6 ways to oblivion
by Kalgante
Summary: Spring has come to Happy tree town and everyone is enjoying the fresh air, cool breezes, and sudden decline in the death rate, of course who would want to question such a turn of events. Well now looks like things are just starting to heat up check it out
1. A Perfect Day

[hello fellow fan fiction readers, I am Kalgante, is that my real name perhaps (no it's not) . this be my first ever fan fiction and any feedback you can offer would be appreciated, do enjoy.

**High noon, the weather was clean and clear, like any beautiful spring day, the last of the snow had melted away leaving the ground soft and moist. Everywhere friends were making the most out of the clear weather. Lumpy drove around delivering mail with few mistakes today. Cuddles, toothy, and mime worked together trying to get a soccer game going. Sniffles was posting up flyers for some extra money. Ultimately, a day of unusual contentment. Things had been different there this year however. The usual high death rate was at an unbelievable low. They were beginning to last several days without death and nobody cared to question such a miraculous turn of events.**

**To the north of town, Petunia tended her yard, planting this years annuals. She sat up to wipe a small dabble of sweat off that formed on her brow and waved hello to two others passing by across the street. Those two were the red porcupine Flaky and the red and pink skunk Lisa who kindly waved back to their friend as she kneeled down to finish her work. The two continued on enjoying ice cream from a new shop that had opened nearby.**

"**So Lisa umm… what do you want to do now" asked Flaky trying to think of something they would both like.**

"**Well, I was thinking we'd just go see what's going on in town, there's gotta be something fun".**

**Flaky nodded in agreement as they moved onward down a hill to the center of town. Nearly half way down however they spotted Lumpy in his mail truck who had also spotted them and quickly turned his truck to face them so that it was taking up both lanes. He then proceeded to step out carrying a mail bag and moved over to the two who stared at the moose in confusion.**

"**Lisa, I have something here for you, umm… hang on a sec" he said burying his face in the bag and spilling mail all over the ground. At least four minutes passed of this until he pulled out a letter in a yellow envelope and handed it to her.**

"**Here you go" he said handing it to her in his usual dopey fashion.**

"**Umm… thanks" responded the confused skunk as she examined the ground around lumpy's feet which was covered in letters.**

"**Oops" he said with a dopey laugh afterwards and proceeded to pick up the letters.**

**Flaky and Lucy glanced behind lumpy to see a large line of cars in each lane honking at Lumpy's truck.**

"**Damnit Lumpy, what the hell are you doing" shouted a disgruntled handy leaning out of his window.**

**Lumpy turned his head to see this and shouted another "oops" as he picked up another handful of letters and retreated to his truck. From there he looked back and forth to either side of him trying to figure out what to do he was trying to go the direction the back of the truck was facing but at the same time he couldn't pull out that way, that's when he was stuck with another of his brilliant ideas and assured it with an "ah ha!" he looked back, adjusted his rear view mirror and began to back up the road he was trying to follow. Lisa and Flaky stared at this display until he was out of sight. Flaky looked at the ground to see a small pile of letters still scattered there. Two were the same as Lisa's and the rest were white; she proceeded to pick them up.**

"**so who's it from?" asked flaky curiously.**

**Lisa looked at it but found it was completely blank, she turned it over and found her name that seemed to be written large in purple ink.**

"**Damnit, it's a stupid prank!" she shouted tossing it to the ground.**

**Flaky watched it as it floated to the ground.**

"**Your not even going to open it?" asked Flaky quietly.**

"**And indulge the ass who sent it, no I'm not" Lisa replied sternly as she marched onward.**

**Flaky considered leaving it but would feel bad if Lucy wanted to open it later so she picked it up and added it to her stack of mail and followed her friend.**

**just a short while later the two came across Cuddles and the others playing soccer as they attempted to pass by.**

"**Hey Flaky, Lisa, you guys busy?" Cuddles shouted to them. **

**The two stopped and looked at each other as if contemplating what to do. Flaky seemed to want to join them but Lisa seemed like she'd rather do something else.**

"**C'mon you two, we'll go easy on ya!" he shouted.**

**This seemed to trigger something in Lisa's head as she had become somewhat aggressive.**

"**What do you mean you'll go easy on us, we're a lot more capable than you think" she stated sternly.**

**Cuddles took advantage of the opportunity and responded with "I'll be the judge of that, come prove it."**

**Although he said it nicely Lucy could hear the competition in his voice and followed suit. Flaky also seemed excited but also nervous.**

**The teams met on opposite ends of the field only to find that the teams were un even, an oversight mostly on cuddle's part.**

"**Hey wait Cuddles" exclaimed Toothy "this is no fun, the teams are un fair."**

**Though Cuddles liked the advantage he couldn't bring himself to start playing yet. At that moment another Tree Friend rode by on his bike, a red furred hedgehog with purple spikes and a blue patch around his left eye.**

"**Remmie! Shouted Lisa as she moved towards him."**

"**Huh?" he replied to himself, too quiet for the others to hear as she marched towards him. He was temped to start riding away.**

"**Remmie" she said to him as she got closer "you think you could join my team so we can play?" she asked.**

"**umm… well I'd rather not" he replied.**

"**yea c'mon Remmie, we need you!" added Cuddles.**

**At this Remmie was put on the spot, he really did not care to play but he didn't want them to not be able to play their game.**

"**Fine" he breathed and walked his bike over to a bench to lean it against.**

**He took sides with Flaky and Lisa at the same time Petunia and Giggles arrived with a picnic basket and sat on a bench.**

"**Hey, you two wanna play?" asked Cuddles to them.**

"**No thanks" Petunia responded "we did come to watch though, we're rooting for you Lisa." she said.**

**Cuddles didn't expect that but laughed anyway.**

"**I got your back Cuddles" Giggles said giggling at the end and opening the picnic basket to grab a sandwich.**

**Petunia and giggles looked at each other and laughed at their opposition to one another.**

**Remmie settled up front face to face with Cuddles Lisa took the roll of support to help Remmie on the approach and to help Flaky the goalie with the defense. Toothy took a similar roll as Lisa on the other end with Mime in the goal. It was Cuddles with the ball and he tossed it into the air. Remmie stayed prepared and charged it with his head. He managed to hit it just below the spikes on his forehead and bounced it towards toothy. Toothy followed up by taking the ball and passing it to Cuddles past a charging Remmie who had already gotten into the game. Cuddles controlled the ball and ran it towards the goal. Lisa was tight on him and managed to kick it away only to have it intercepted by Toothy. Remmie seemed to just charge at whoever has the ball and charged towards Toothy who only had Flaky between him and the goal. Lisa did what she could to get to the ball but Toothy had already sent it towards the goal. Flaky could only watch as it hurtled towards her. She closed her eyes and stuck out her hands in an attempt to stop the ball but it had flown clear past her and into the net. At that sound Flaky opened her eyes and was relieved to see that it had not hit her. When she turned to the others she could see their disappointment. At that she rubbed her left arm bashfully and an said she was sorry.**

**Remmie and Lisa forgave her and continued their game. This time Remmie tossed the ball and Cuddles took advantage of his long ears to take it to his feet and knock it past Remmie. He ran it towards the goal and hammered it from a distance trying to make an epic goal. Lisa however made sure he'd regret it and blocked it with her chest before it could get to the cowering Flaky. She began to run it towards the opposite end and managed to shimmy the ball past cuddles. Remmie had Toothy covered and toothy did his best to avoid getting too close to his spikes. Remmie followed Lisa to the goal as she sent it towards the goal. Mime put up an effort to block it with an invisible wall but instead blocked it when it soared into the side of his face. By now Cuddles was in position to intercept the ball. Remmie made an effort to get it but Cuddles managed to get it right before Remmie could. This resulted in Remmie falling and sliding on his stomach. He now had a clear path to the goal and wasted no time to get there. He charged aggressively towards flaky and she responded by ducking and closing her eyes as it soared right above her and brushed her quills. She then stood up and looked behind herself to see the ball nestled in the goal. she turned to look at her friends who looked quite stressed and she just felt bad.**

**Cuddles now had the ball and tossed it into the air. This time Remmie was thoroughly annoyed and attempted to take the ball but Cuddles repeated his previous tactic and took it to the ground with his ears. Remmie however was able to react faster to it this time and keep on him. Cuddles turned his head to see Remmie hot on his heels but still behind. he decided to tease him by sticking out his tongue at him but Lisa managed to get the ball away from him and kicked it forward. Remmie ran to take the ball and succeeded. Toothy had taken a pre emptive defensive stance before the goal as Remmie charged to the goal. Slightly faster, cuddles managed to catch up to Remmie and attempted to take the ball. Remmie responded by using his superior power and body checked Cuddles off of the field into a cooler full of water. His eyes read determination and Toothy could see it. Remmie growled at him, telling him to get out of the way and Toothy did just that. Mime responded with a shocked reaction and stared in fear at Remmie steaming towards him. He stuck out his hands in hopes of stopping the rocket Remmie had launched at him. His efforts were met with a painful smash directly to the face. He had however bounced the ball back at Remmie who followed up by trying to head but it into the goal but instead impaled it on his spikes. He stared with a blank stare at the ball that was slowly deflating on his forehead.**

"**Well, that's it, I'm done" he said frustrated at the horrible turn of events that this game had been.**

**Remmie peeled the remains of the ball off of his forehead and tossed it onto the ground as he walked over to check on Cuddles who was setting the cooler back up. He seemed to be quite cheery despite being thrown into a bench.**

"**you ok?" asked Remmie.**

"**Yep" Cuddles replied, he didn't seem to take it personally at all "it's always fun to make a game crazy like that".**

"**If you guys are hungry I made more than enough sandwiches for everyone" suggested Giggles.**

"**alright!, toss me one would ya gigs" requested Cuddles.**

"**sure" she said taking a wrapped sandwich out of the basket and tossed it over to Cuddles who proceeded to catch it in his mouth making Giggles laugh.**

**By now all the players were off of the field retrieving sandwiches from Giggles and Petunia.**

"**Alright, here you go Toothy, I'll assume you want chunky peanut butter mime, no peanuts for you two right" Giggles said to Flaky and Remmie while she searched for something else "and Lisa, you don't care".**

**Giggles passed out the sandwiches When sniffles approached them, holding a stack of flyers.**

"**Hey guys" he said approaching them "I've been requisitioned to advertise the dance competition today, if you're interested all the information you need is in the flyer"**

**Sniffles handed a flyer to them and took off. Everyone gathered around Cuddles who had taken the flyer and he began to read the important parts aloud.**

"**lets see. It's at the concert studio, first prize is 300 gold acorns; sounds pretty good so far; second and third receive 200 and 100 respectively, and it looks like e are going to need to bring partners".**

**At that he looked to Giggles beside him and put his arm around her.**

"**alright, I've got mine" he said happily making Giggles laugh.**

**Toothy walked over to Petunia and asked to be partners with her. She though it'd be cute to dance with Cuddle's best friend as Cuddles was dancing with hers so she agreed. Mime motioned for Lisa who shrugged knowing that her other option couldn't dance if his life depended on it so she shrugged and joined him. All that was left was Remmie and Flaky who looked at one another, shrugged and joined by default.**

[well there you have it, my first story and first chapter. if you made it to the end i thank you, as i have described this is an OC story and i will require them to produce it further

they will be introduced after chapter 2 and more will be discussed at the end of said chapter. you may submit whenever but i will need them before chapter 3. due to the stories nature i will be required to mess around with relationships if it works. i will need their **name, species, gender, appearance, personality, abilities or talents, and anything else you wish to tell me about them.** you know, the usual stuff. By the way, Remmie is my OC, Lisa is not and is used by permission. please let me know what you think of the story and farewell for now.


	2. Dance Off

[chapter 2 already? Yep. Figured I'd lay the ground work quick so you could get an idea of what you and your OC's are in for, now I must wait for the quota to fill so I can build what comes next. Well it's time for the dance so sit back and enjoy]

The room was illuminated with a dim, relaxing lighting and it smelled of freshly lacquered wood. It had been intricately decorated with velvet curtains, the tables with white tablecloths and white flowers in a vase. It appeared classier than it really was. The inside was already filling with tree friends here for the show and the dinner that was also being prepared. On the stage however sat a being that couldn't be taken with the classy atmosphere for it was lumpy, he seemed to be the DJ for the night.

"Well then, I guess I'll go sign us up" stated Cuddles as he took a head count then walked over to lumpy.

Lisa seemed to be rather excited, opposite of Flaky who seemed to be getting nervous knowing she'd have to be standing up and performing for people. Toothy also seemed surprisingly excited for one reason or another. Remmie looked like he could care less. The others seemed to just be having fun.

"Well how about we get a table then" suggested petunia.

"Oh right right, umm…" she said looking around the room.

Most of the tables seemed full or at least too full for all of them to sit at. The best one she could find was a large corner booth with one guy at it who seemed to be sleeping.

"here, let's sit with Mr. anti social over there" she said pointing to the booth.

Nobody objected and followed her over. As they approached they recognized him as Reuger, a black and grey skunk with crimson ears, belly, stripes, and bangs hanging over a snow camouflage headband and snow camouflaged bandanna around his neck with the larger part behind him, more resembling a neckerchief. He was clearly asleep which led them to guess as to what the bottle was in front of him but it was root beer, not booze.

Remmie sat next to him on his left and Toothy to his right. When everyone was seated Cuddles returned.

"Alright, we're in, hey Reuger, when did you get here" he asked after noticing the skunk.

This resulted in a reaction in the form of him lazily opening one eye. His first sight was Toothy who waved at him. He moved his eye about to examine the sudden company he had.

"Oh" he said slowly raising his head "was I asleep?"

"yea; you in the dance contest?" asked Cuddles.

"huh?, no I'm not, normally I would be but I barely slept last, ran out of meds so I'm pretty sore now too."

Giggles and Petunia gave him a look of sorrow.

"anyway" he started again" I came to watch at least, and for the dinner, speaking of which, I think they were supposed to take orders by now, it's like they have Mole and handy working the kitchen.

Across the room the group noticed a set of doors open and out walked Mole and Handy carrying note pads. At that Reuger dropped his head onto the table baffled.

"Well I think we can assume that Lumpy is the mastermind behind the planning process then" said Reuger muffled by the table.

"ey, ugha oo gies aunt?"

"What" asked Petunia to the person addressing them. As it was, it was Handy with a note pad in his mouth.

He spat it onto the table "what do you guys want?" he asked as he reached for the pen with his stubs. He eventually managed to pinch it and attempted to raise it to his mouth but dropped it. He responded with a look of frustration.

"umm, that's ok, I'll take care of it" insisted Remmie as he picked up the somewhat damp note pad and pen.

Underneath the note pad was a narrow list of dinner choices, just basics like chicken, fish, and pasta dishes. Remmie selected his meal, wrote it down and passed it along. The line.

"I'm not touching that" exclaimed Petunia when the menu got to her so cuddles showed it to her and Remmie wrote down what she wanted.

Remmie then took the materials and held them out to handy who promptly opened his mouth. Remmie hesitated for a moment but gave him the materials anyway that he bit down on then left to another table. In the direction he left in the group noticed Mole trying to take the order of a plant.

After a brief period of chatter within the group the lights faded and the dance floor lit up. In an instant the carefree mood turned into mash of different emotions. Giggles had butterflies, Petunia was excited alongside Cuddles. Mime seemed to feel like this was no different than any other performance. Flaky was predictably nervous and Remmie didn't seem to care too much. Lisa however couldn't keep still, it was beyond excitement for her, she couldn't wait to get started.

"Hello people of tree town and welcome to the first annual spring dance contest" bellowed Lumpy through the microphone "first off I would like to introduce our judges. Judge in seat number one is Nutty. A light illuminated him at his judging seat and he waves spastically to the crowd.

"judge number two is Pop" Lumpy bellowed and another light illuminated pop who waved to the crowd.

"and judge number three is Lammy" another light illuminated Lammy who also waved.

"Now then" started Lumpy the contestants will be judged on umm…" he said picking up a piece of paper on his table and squinting at it "form, uhh… grace, rhythm, and uhh… creativity. So without further delay our first contestants are Disco Bear and Cub!" he shouted.

"yea, figured he'd be here" said Reuger glancing at Lisa who seemed to be getting even more agitated.

Moments later in the shade above the steps to the dance floor stood a somewhat disgruntled looking Disco who repeatedly glanced at his partner with a look of disgust, clearly this wasn't his first choice of partner. The moment Disco entered the spotlight however he took on his regular suave and showy attitude and moon walked his way to the center of the dance floor to be followed by a slowly be-bopping cub who was completely ignorant of the situation. Disco however seemed determined to make the best of the situation. When the music finally began to play he broke into his famous groove, however this was a partner show and Cub had no way of knowing how to participate. Disco responded by forcing Cub into dance moves, most of the work was his own doing such as him spinning cub like a top and following up by tossing him into the air. His years of dance showed in his expertise of making it look like Cub was dancing. Really though cub just wanted out as he was getting quite sore. When the music ended and the dazed Cub was finally allowed to sit and rest the judges posted their results. Nutty had given a seven, likely due to him not paying much attention through most of it. Pop was clapping and laughing delightedly and gave a ten, likely due to cubs presence in the performance. Lammy offered an honest eight. Disco seemed somewhat dissatisfied with the results but seemed fine.

Lumpy called a couple of contestants who then commenced their performances then followed up by calling Cuddles and Giggles to the floor. When they got there Cuddles gave a wave to the audience before the music began. Low and behold it was a slow song and the two danced accordingly. Suddenly the music broke into something entirely different. When they turned to see what was happening they found that lumpy had begun to scratch the discs like a DJ. Instead of stopping however Cuddles improvised and began to break dance. Giggles however had no idea what to do. She stood and watched Cuddles for a moment then approached him. As it happened, it was just when cuddles began a head spin resulting in her receiving an accidental kick to the jaw and falling to the floor. Cuddles stoped mid spin and hurried to her. He face was swollen but she appeared fine. He picked her up and returned her to the table.

"Geez, sorry Gigs" Cuddles said sincerely.

"Oh, no, it's fine Cuddles" she said rubbing her swollen jaw.

"hang on, I'll go get you an ice pack" he said leaving his seat.

At that moment Flaky and Remmie were called to the floor. Remmie casually rose from his seat as the others moved out of his way but Flaky began shaking un controllably ans she slowly got out of her seat. Remmie noticed something in her quills and told her about it and she grabbed it. It was a yellow envelope. At that point she remembers stuffing the letters between her quills and took the rest out to set them on the table. Remmie motioned for her to come and she slowly followed. When the two entered the spotlight in the center of the room they turned to the crowd. Though it was difficult to see them in the dark from their light they knew they were there. Suddenly Remmie froze up and his pupils shrank as he realized that he can't dance. The music started up and Flaky jumped and looked around at the audience shaking. Remmie stood perfectly still staring directly in front of him at the crowd. Because of his red fur you could only see him blush through the blue fur around his eye and he began to sweat. About a minute had passed of this and the only movement that occurred was Flaky's shaking and teeth chattering. She seemed even more nervous by looking at Remmie's motionlessness. Eventually Remmie turned and walked towards the stairs to leave in a very robotic fashion and Flaky followed close behind. In a second though the lights went out causing a temporary stir and Remmie felt a pinch in his face. The lights had now returned. Remmie and Flaky were still on the floor but Remmie was no longer walking. Instead he turned to Flaky and grabbed her hand as they returned to the floor. In an unexpected turn Remmie was suddenly dancing, and good at that. Flaky was still nervous but followed his moves. Lisa watched in surprise never expecting any of that from Remmie. Disco stared over the short wall above the floor shocked. He had recognized many of those moves as his own and was outraged. He had even considered rushing out there and showing him up but fortunately for him he stopped before he got to far after realizing that he couldn't remember how to do any of his moves. When the music ended Remmie and Flaky were given an excited eight from nutty, an impressed nine from pop, and a perfect ten from Lammy who though it was not only great but adorable. Remmie said nothing but the look on his face read "what the hell just happened". they returned to their seats as the next couple was called. As it was it was Petunia and toothy.

The two stepped onto the dance floor and the music began. This was the first time the group didn't experience a problem and Toothy proved to be an incredible dancer. Petunia was quite good as well and were given a twenty eight.

"how'd you manage that Remmie?" asked a surprised Lisa

"I… really have no idea, I just went with my gut, it just sort of happened" he responded still surprised.

Before she could say anything else Petunia and Toothy returned and the next contestants were up. Lisa was shaking with anxiety, she couldn't' wait to get up there and still has not gone. Her time to shine was not now however as the next contestants were Mr. pickles and Mrs. Socks. With nobody paying attention to how they got there; in the center of the floor laid a sock puppet and a pickle. The music began and a few peope watched but seen nothing. When the music ended Lammy cheered frantically and scrawled a large ten on her board. Pop looked at nutty confused and shrugged. Nutty shrugged as well and said "I don't know". Pop shrugged again and wrote a two on his board. Nutty had nothing to present. Lammy hopped off of the stage onto the floor and picked them up to bring back with her.

Finally, after the long night of disastrous showmanship. Lisa and Mime were called to the floor. Mime's first action was to go back stage much to the confusion of Lisa. He returned with two unicycles. Lisa was curious about this as she had no idea what he was up to.

"this isn't the circus Mime, what do you think we're going to use unicycles for?" she asked somewhat nervous as to the outcome.

With a smile on his face Mime handed a unicycle to her. She fortunately has experience with the contraption so she just took it. When the music started she and mime hopped up on their unicycles and began to ride around each other. This was something nobody was expecting as they preformed perfectly to the music. They took each others hands and in perfect synch wheeled in a circle. After a few more impressive moves Lisa motioned for Mime to get off the cycle in which they both did and entered seamlessly into a regular dance routine. Their performance was flawless and was given straight tens. However while they were dancing, the food was served and they returned to see everybody eating.

"Tell me you guys saw that" she begged "tell me you guys were not eating the entire time I was down there!" she was clearly nervous and annoyed.

"umm… well I watched you" assured Remmie.

"Great!. Anyone else!" she demanded.

"I know Giggles and I did" assured Cuddles.

"uhh! Whatever, it's obvious that this is Lumpy's horrible planning anyways, he isn't worth the anger" she said.

Lisa sat down in her seat and began eating her meal. at some point during their meal Lumpy announced the winners and the group listened anxiously.

"in third place and winners of one hundred gold acorns each is the team of Remmie and Flaky" he bellowed. Remmie again was struck with disbelief as was flaky this time and she seemed quite happy.

"in second place and the winners of two hundred gold acorns each is the team of Toothy and Petunia" Petunia jittered with excitement and Toothy looked quite proud of himself.

"And finally in first place and the winners of three hundred gold acorns each is the team of Lisa and Mime". despite already knowing that her's was the only team to score a thirty. It didn't beat hearing it first hand.

"ha ha!, great job guys, glad I came to watch" said Reuger proudly.

Moments later Handy, lumpy and the mole arrived at their table to deliver their prizes.

"congratulations" said lumpy dropping off the prizes and leaving.

Each prize was in the form of a check and on it was a ribbon colored according to the position they came in. the first prizes also came with crowns of a king and queen which were donned by their respective owners. Lisa seemed particularly excited about it. Glancing around however Remmie grew curious about the stack of letters Flaky had placed onto the table.

"Hey Flaky" started Remmie "why were you carrying mail around with you anyway?"

"huh? Oh lumpy dropped them when he stopped to give a letter to Lisa" she replied.

"you really kept all those?" asked Lisa.

"anyone but me think we should open them?" asked Cuddles mischievously.

Flaky began to sort through them and came across the yellow envelope given to Lisa.

"This is the Letter Lumpy gave her." said Flaky as she slid it out to them.

"you didn't open it?" asked Petunia.

"course not, it's a prank, look" she said flipping it over to reveal the writing "it's in purple ink…" she stopped before she could finish her sentence.

The name on the envelope was not hers.

"what, he gave you a letter addressed to me? Asked Remmie confused as he picked up the envelope."

Flaky grew curious about this and sorted through the stack of mail. In it she found two more letters, one for Lisa and one for Petunia and placed them onto the table.

"Don't tell me we all got this stupid prank" Lisa said annoyed.

Remmie grinned "why don't we all open em' whether or not it's a prank I'm curious about what they say."

Remmie and Petunia began opening their envelopes. Lisa hesitated but she couldn't deny that she was curious so she reluctantly began opening her envelope. Each one had now drawn the slip of paper each one covered mostly the same topic.

Dear Mrs. Lisa

You're home has been selected to board the victims of a recent flood in Birch Tree Town to the coast until respective accommodations can be produced. Your records in society have found you to be a prime candidate for the effort We thank you for your assistance.

Below the writing was a list of names, presumably the victims of this flood that she was to house until a later date.

"Well Lisa, that's a damn funny prank they're pulling huh?" asked Remmie with sarcasm.

Lisa shot him a look of disgust.

[well there you have it folks, we've got a flood and your OC's are the victims. they will be arriving in Happy Tree Town in chapter 3, it is now that I need OC's. to those who have already submitted I thank you, they have already helped me develop the story. There are indeed more than soccer games, dances. and sandwiches in the future I assure you. This story can take a sizeable cast so feel free to add. By the way, Reuger is also one of My OC's. my parting words; stay dry people, stay dry.]


	3. Welcome to the Family

[ well here it is, chapter 3, thanks to everyone we have successfully doubled the HTF cast. As of yet I am un sure of weather or not I'll need more OC's in the future but for now my needs have been well met. Well here you go, enjoy.]

Noon, a day had passed since the event of the dance. At the Train station sat an anxious group of Remmie, Lisa, and Petunia. They had followed the instructions written on their letters and awaited their new arrivals. Remmie stared into his with a look of dread but it was a lot for all of them to take in on such short notice.

"Did either of you even hear about this flood?" asked Lisa frustrated.

"What, you didn't?" asked Petunia "it was on the news a couple of days ago, apparently a tidal wave or something, the whole town's under water now."

"Umm, well… I haven't watched the news in a while" said Lisa feeling a bit dumb.

"Don't worry about it" assured Remmie "I barely ever watch it, so I missed it too."

"Yea, but don't you think we might have heard about it in town or something?" asked Lisa.

"It's probably been brought up a bit, but you know that stuff like that's nothing new, besides, who wants to talk about something so disastrous when things are getting so much better around here." Remmie replied.

"Yea, I guess your right, I'm sick of the bad news too" she said as she probed her eyes along the ground and stepped on every ant she seen.

In the Distance the horn of a train could be heard. Immediately everybody tensed up and Remmie shoved his nose into his letter seeming quite stressed.

"Figures I'd get the extra guy

"Glad I didn't" responded Petunia and Lisa in unison.

Remmie began bouncing his leg up and down, trying to tell himself that this is something he has to do. To everyone's dismay the mighty engine could now be seen chugging along just up the track towards them and reducing it's speed.

"C'mon guys, we have to look professional, we don't want to have a bad fist impression" Petunia rallied.

The two nodded reluctantly and stood up. Each donned a straight face and waited for the train to stop. As the windows passed through their view they could see numerous faces. Though that agitated them they knew that there was no way all of them were there for them.

They watched in anxiety as the train slowly chugged to a halt and the doors opened. Out stepped a small crowd of people who walked straight past them, they were not the people they were waiting for. After a brief pause In the action a few more doors opened, in their guts they knew that their crowd was coming. The first one to step out of the train appeared to be a dog. His fur appeared light blue but his floppy ears were a darker blue. He wore a grey sweatshirt and had a pink muzzle. His tail was thin and also tipped with pink. He carried with him a blue backpack with a soft yellow floral pattern weaved into it. He gazed around in confusion and spotted the three standing in front of a bench.

As he moved towards them another person stepped out of the train but not before rolling a large ball out in front of him. He appeared to be a fox with light grey fur and red eye makeup in a circle around his eyes that had points on the tops and bottoms. He was also carrying a backpack and looking around disoriented. He had also locked his eyes on the group standing by the benches.

"Excuse me, is one of you Petunia?" he asked politely wit a friendly smile.

"I am" informed the blue skunk "and you are?"

"Bubble, nice to meet you petunia" he replied kindly.

Seconds later the second approached.

"Excuse me Miss are you Miss Lisa" he said shyly.

"Umm, yea, and you're umm…" she said while searching through the letter for names "Doubble maybe?"

The fox looked down to the ground and held his tail in front of him, running his fingers through it's thick fur. He seemed quite anxious.

"No… it's… Glitter" he told her quietly though she was still able to hear him.

"Oh, sorry" she said.

Remmie kept eying the unusual ball he had beside him.

"So what kind of ball is this?" Remmie asked reaching out to feel it's texture.

"Don't touch it!" the fox shouted pulling it away from him.

"Ok I wont!" replied Remmie as he retreated his hand and his pupils shrank with surprise. Remmie glanced away from everyone and rubbed the spikes on his neck with his hand feeling horribly awkward.

"Sorry…" the Fox said quietly while hugging his ball.

"Yea uhh, it's fine." said Remmie still feeling awkward.

To his left he seen yet another person exit the train. It looked like a black panther. Instead of just walking out she swung herself out using the bar above the door. Over her shoulder she carried a large duffle bag that seemed to have a sword strapped to it. She looked around and rushed over to the three near the benches. Glitter responded by getting well out of the way.

"Hey, you're Remmie right" she asked immediately.

"Umm yea, and you…" Remmie started before being cut off.

"Alright then… I kind of thought you'd be taller, anyways looks like I'm staying at your place for a while" she said throwing her duffle bag onto a bench "I'm sure you've got a bunch of others to wait for, so wake me up when we're done."

At that she threw herself onto the bench, rested her head against her duffle bag and went to sleep. Remmie had no idea what to think… she never gave him a name though.

Moments later two more people exited the train. The first was a male and he seemed to be carrying luggage for two people. He was of an unrecognizable species and appeared to be a mix of multiple. His hair was blue as well as his eyes. His tail was of a darker blue but the rest of him was white and he wore a black hooded sweatshirt. The alarming thing about him was the large demonic looking scythe he had strapped to his back.

He was soon followed by a similar looking creature. She stood shorter than the first but sported the color red instead of blue. Most of her appeared to be red. Her face had red colorations that resembled a mask you'd find at a masquerade but had white rings around her eyes and the area around her muzzle. Her legs also bared numerous white patches and had white stripes along her arms. Her tail was surprisingly large, even larger than her and had numerous quills along it. She wore a child size red dress but had a large bust that made it appear shorter.

They, like the others, looked disoriented until they laid eyes on the growing group of people near the benches and looked at a slip of paper.

"Either of you Lisa?" the male asked to the two skunks.

"I am, and you are?" Lisa replied.

"Ansom, my sister is Araya, according to this letter we are staying with you" he said plainly as he and Araya took seats on a bench. Lisa didn't like his attitude.

They had few seconds before yet another person exited the train, this tome a squirrel, for a moment The three mistook her for nutty but she lacked the candy all over her face and had one large stripe running from each eye to the back of her head. She had a number of bags with her but carried them with ease as if she had tactics for carrying them. Aside from the extra stripes on her face, blue stripes on her tail and lack of a googly eye, she resembled nutty to a tee.

"You Remmie?" she asked to the hedgehog.

Remmie was curious as to how she came straight to him despite the sizable crowed building around them but upon inspection realized that they were the only official looking ones around there. Nobody else even attempted to make it look like they belonged there.

"Yea, I'm Remmie" he replied.

"nice to meet you Remmie, I'm twitchy" she said with a smile as she reached out to shake his hand.

This caught Remmie completely off guard and hesitantly shook her hand. She had a firm, official handshake.

"Apparently I am to be housing with you, I promise not to be a burden" she assured Remmie. She moved to a wall and started rifling through her bags.

When Remmie turned his attention back to the train somebody else was already rushing his way out of the train. It appeared to be a red hamster. The second Remmie seen this guy he felt a terrible sense of dread that he may be housing him too. The guy exited the train by way of skateboard and was carrying a chainsaw. He skated around the station for several grueling moments shouting something after every trick he pulled until he rolled his way over to Remmie who he was noticeably shorter then.

"Yo, Remmie right?" he asked.

At that moment Remmie wanted his head to explode as he was already thoroughly annoyed by this guy.

"Yes" Remmie said grudgingly.

"Sweet, name's Tiny and I kick ass at everything I do, check this out" he said excitedly and held up his chainsaw "whoops, crap. I'll be right back."

At that he skated back to the train and along the way swiped another refugee with his shoulder. They recognized this one however as Alexis, she was a wolf donned in a gray cammo uniform with matching gray cammo skirt. Around her neck was wrapped a chain with a set of titanium steel dog tags. She wore a pair of black and white combat boots and atop her head was a grey beret with a strange symbol printed on a red strip. Her waste long black hair and thin black eyeliner contrasted her white fur and blue eyes.

Petunia examined her letter recognizing Alexis's name printed onto it.

"Lex?" Petunia asked curiously.

"Hey Pets" The wolf replied "Guess I'll be at your place for a while."

"Well yea…" Petunia said somewhat confused "I don't have a problem with that or anything but don't you have a house in town?"

"Yea" she started "I was curious about that. When I got this Letter it jut told me that I would be staying with you. I'm not the only one with a house here who was told to stay with somebody though. Chunky and Torch were too and I'm sure Twitchy also has a place here. I figured it was just too strange to ignore so I'm resigned to staying with you for now."

This somewhat unsettled the skunk who decided to pay it little mind. There were others approaching that needed to be greeted.

The first of a set of three was a black cat with red eyes with white markings around them. Her cheeks also bore similar markings. She wore a red and white striped skirt with a blue skirt made of leather. On her neck she wore a yellow and silver choker with a matching one on her leg. She also brandished a pair of brown boots and what appeared to be a weapon wrapped in brown cloth and tied with black string.

By now it was quite obvious who the people of interest were and the refugees simply flocked to them.

"I'm looking for someone named Lisa" the cat stated.

"Right here" Lisa replied though she seemed to be getting tired of stating the same thing over and over again "just give me your name and we can get through this much faster".

"Alright I'm Tho… or I mean uhh, Shelby" she said forcefully.

Lisa was confused and annoyed at this but decided she'd stop caring as it would only take longer.

The other two behind her seemed to be struggling with getting something out of the train the first one in line was a dark green porcupine. he appeared to be dressed ready for a battle. His tops consisted of a dark grey jacket over a black tee-shirt that were both designed to be worn well with his quills. His bottoms were tan pants with black knee plates. Finally he had worked the short quills on top of his head into a mohawk form. He could be heard arguing with somebody else who later stepped out of the train followed by a flood of weapon cases.

The person who had stepped out appeared to be a civet. His fur was light grey and he wore a fedora, dark red tee shirt, and dark grey shorts.

While they figured out how to manage their situation another Refugee stepped out of the train. It was a koala, and one familiar to the group. He was quite heavy set and wore a Tee-shirt with a hand that had two fingers sticking up and a thumb missing with the writing Left 4 Dead 2. Though it was difficult to see with him having his nose buried in some sort of handheld game he wore a large set of round glasses. He had grey fur, a large nose, large ears, and was a bit taller than the others. He eventually raised his head from his game and scoped out the area to find the large group growing around the benches. He quickly realized what he was doing and hurried over.

"Hey Remmie" he said to his friend.

"Hey Chunky" Remmie responded.

Although Remmie was a bit pudgy as most hedgehogs naturally are it was nothing compared to Chunky.

"Well I'm sure you can already guess that I'm staying at your place for a while, that's gonna be awesome, we can play video games all night!" he exclaimed looking excited.

By now the other two had approached. The civet seemed to be carrying the most luggage which was lashed together to be transportable. The porcupine still had cases of his own to carry though.

"So Petunia" the porcupine started "I guess Andy and are gonna be spending a few days with you, I'll assume you've been looking forward to it huh?" he said teasingly.

"Can't say I have Kurt" replied Petunia "just try not to trash the house while you're there, Andy could you keep an eye on him."

"What, you don't trust me?" Said Kurt grinning.

"No problem Pets, he'll do whatever I tell him if he knows what's good for him" said Andy chuckling to himself.

"Get real Andy you know I'd kick your ass. Don't worry Pets I won't cause you any trouble, just keep Giggles away from me, she annoys the crap out of me." Kurt ordered.

"I think Petunia has better things to do than talk to you Kurt" Chunky said firmly.

"Ahh shove it Chunks, side's I thought you two stopped going out a while ago, why so defensive huh?" he said tauntingly.

"Excuse me!" someone said from behind the squabbling refugees "I need to talk to Petunia."

Chunky and Kurt moved apart to make way for a white cat. She wore a grey jacket with a white shirt beneath it and a chain necklace that went beneath that. She wore brown shorts on the bottom with neon pink shoes and white socks that rose to her ankles. Her eyes were grey.

Lisa happened to take notice of Shelby who seemed somewhat uneasy now that this cat was here.

"Petunia, that's you I take it" started the cat "I'm Rose, I guess I'll be staying at your house for a while?"

"Yea… you are on the list after all" stated Petunia.

"Alright then, I'll wait till you go then." she said while wandering off to an area behind the group.

"Anyone else think we could be a bit more efficient than this?" asked Remmie after observing the disaster of a situation they had just experienced.

"Yes, I've been thinking about that ever since we got here" Lisa said somewhat frustrated.

Petunia thought to herself for a moment as another group of three stepped out of the train.

The one closest to them was a chipmunk. Her fur a pale yellow with dark brown hair and stripes typical of a chipmunk. On her head she wore a large pair of black and white headphones. Her attire consisted of a white tee shirt, a black and white checkered skirt, and a necklace with a pendant of two connected eight notes. She was carrying a thick backpack ornamented with music related baubles.

Behind her was a dark grey porcupine with bright red quills. He carried with him a black cane and the reason was obvious as he had a black peg leg for his left leg. His belly was a lighter grey than his fur and his only attire was an orange tie with yellow flames.

"Behind him walked a light grey wolf with a black tail and hair. Both his tail and hair bared a long dark violet thunder sign respectively, as did the black neckerchief he wore over his mouth. His attire was about the male equivalent of Alexis's. his eyes were as violet as his unique markings and had a small amount of black eyeliner on. His hair was draped over one of his eyes. On his back was strapped an un recognizable item wrapped in cloth

"Alright!" Petunia demanded "you three, just give us your names and who you are staying with, this is Remmie, this is Lisa, and I'm Petunia."

"Hey Petunia, you haven't forgotten about me have you?" started the porcupine.

"Nope, hey Torch, c'mon, let's hurry this up" she replied.

"I'm Eme, nice to meet you Remmie" said the Chipmunk.

"Yea, hey" he said finding how she emphasized the similarities in their names to be somewhat annoying.

"Lisa then, I'm thunder, I don't plan I staying with you for long, I've got better things to do" he said coldly.

Lisa gave him a look that could kill.

From behind them five more refugees showed up, likely because they had more than enough time to gather their stuff by now.

The first and most striking of them was a yellow rabbit donned in a tattered straight jacket and brown shorts.

Behind him was someone who seemed to be keeping an eye on him. A dark brown wolf with a scar over her left eye and clad in black army attire from suit to boots.

"Good news Torch, those pills of yours are working like a charm, twitch hasn't been a problem since he took em'" assured the wolf.

"Great, thanks for keeping an eye on him Lilith" Torch said gratefully.

"Yea, sure. Ok Remmie, you're in charge of the lunatic " she said shoving the rabbit in front of Remmie and tossing him a container of pills "Lisa, I guess I'll be with you."

Remmie did not look pleased with the situation he was in but he had to shape up and get it over with.

The next was a raccoon with a fox by her side. The Raccoon had pink fur with lighter pink stripes and eye markings and was wearing a light blue backpack for transportation.

The fox had lilac fur with a paler tail tip and was wearing a spiked wristband and a backpack about the same color as the raccoon's.

"Are you Remmie" the fox asked trying to be sure.

"Yep, and you must be…" he said looking at the remaining names on the list "Twisty and Trippy, right?"

"Uh huh" said the Fox "I'm Trippy and she's Twisty."

"Hello" said the raccoon.

Remmie waved back and was relieved that his list had been met. The final one of the group showed up in front of Lisa.

"Lisa right?" he asked "I'm going to be staying at your place, just stay out of my business and I won't be a problem."

"What the hell ever!" Lisa exclaimed sick of all these attitudes she was getting but was relieved to find that her list had been checked off.

The group waited as Petunia's last refugee struggled to get out of the Train, from what they could see she was trying to carry out some disastrous mass of meral or a work of art. When she managed to finally heave it out of the train it turned out to be some overly elaborate contraption being used to transport her luggage.

The creature appeared to be a tiger with mint green fur and electric green stripes. She wore a gold and jade talisman on a silver chain around her neck and an unusual bracelet. She began to wheel the contraption to the overly obvious mass of people crowding the train station.

"Excuse me, is one of you Petunia?" She asked.

"Yes!" Petunia squealed, excited, finally everyone had arrived.

She looked at her list to find a name and all that was left was Keni.

"Keni right?" asked Petunia.

"I am" replied the Tiger.

"Alright guys, this is all of them" said Petunia excitedly.

"Damn, finally" breathed a relieved Remmie.

"Alright people listen to me!" shouted Lisa who lost patience a while ago "everyone's finally here, next up I want all of you to get with your groups, we are leaving now; right now!"

Nobody objected to that and fell in with their groups and everyone was ready to go.

"Wait" started Petunia "didn't one of your group go back to the train Remmie."

Remmie immediately remembered the obnoxious hamster.

"Umm, nope nope it's fine let's go, C'mon group we're going!" Remmie ordered and began to take off.

As everyone began to leave the Hamster emerged from the train, this time carrying three chainsaws.

"Alright guys, check it ou…!" he shouted only to notice the groups fading away in the distance.

"Awe damnit!" he shouted "Hang on, wait up!"

At that he mounted the skateboard and followed after them.

[ well hat was a workout on my dusty brain, some of you may have noticed a couple renditions and interpretations that may be somewhat different but I have my reasons for doing them or needing them. If I screwed anything up that I may not have meant to do or you have a related question just let me know. To all of you who offered me your OC's I thank you, now we can get underway. As a side note I picked the Left 4 Dead 2 tee shirt because it's the one I have, I also named this chapter after the song of the same name by Avenged Sevenfold See you around folks.]


	4. Remmie's House Warming

[here we go, it's time to see how everyone is adjusting to the new scene, first up is Remmie's group, enjoy]

1:00, Remmie and his group had just arrived at his house and parted ways with Lisa and Petunia. Remmie turned to take a head count. Everyone seemed to be present and he silently cursed his luck again. This group made him hope for the best but expect the worst. He had already picked out the problem refugees. Twitch for one, what the hell were these pills for hr thought to himself. The next was the Panther, maybe not as problematic as the other two but she seemed somewhat nuts. That's when he remembered that he had no name for her. He looked into his letter looking for any names that he didn't recognize. The only one was Midnight that had not told Remmie their name and assumed that this panther was her. He didn't even want to think about Tiny who didn't shut up for a minute on the walk over there and he insisted that everyone stop to watch him juggle chainsaws. Fortunately for Remmie at least Chunky was a friend. Remmie took a breath, turned, and opened his door.

inside, his house was kept quite clean. When they entered they were immediately in the living room it was quite an interesting sight. At the back of the room was a set of stairs to lead to the second floor. The floor its self consisted of two separate environments. Part of it was beige carpeting with an end table in the corner beside a large white couch and a chair. It was fairly plain there as it was only around the edge of the room. The other part started at the center of the room and filled the rest of the room. It was a black carpet with four beanbag chairs each one color coded to it's used. There was a brown one, yellow one, purple one, red one and a mix of purple and red. The walls in that spot were painted red to give the area a darker look. It was possibly the most decorated area in the house. It' focus point was a large T.V with numerous game systems scattered about.

"Well" started Remmie "this is my house umm… this is the living room. The door to the left leads to the kitchen. There is a hall in between with a bathroom, the door to the basement and a spare room. Up stairs is another bathroom and my room… so umm. Yea just figure out where you wanna sleep."

Everyone began to look around and went their separate ways to explore the house as Remmie watched feeling awkward.

"Well Remmie" Chunky started "I'll be fine here in the living room, I'll just sleep on the couch like I usually do when I stay over."

"Alright then" said Remmie "guess I'll go get your stuff."

Remmie began walking to the spare room to retrieve Chunky's blankets when he heard noise coming from the closet. He approached curiously and opened the door to see the yellow rabbit Twitch pulling cloths off of the hangers.

"what the hell are you doing?" asked Remmie to the rabbit.

"I'm stay'n in here" Replied Twitch with his right eye twitching rapidly and left eye facing off to who knows where. His meds had clearly begun to ware off.

"You're gonna be staying in my closet?" Remmie asked.

"Better than the attic" Twitch started "no no not the attic no more, never!"

His expression seemed to be changing with every slight change of emotion he experienced. He also seemed quite jittery.

"yep I'll just sleep in here for a while"

"Umm… I guess that's fine" said Remmie wanting no more to do with this guy and continued on his way.

He entered the hallway, the bathroom was to his right and the others to his left. He walked down and opened a door to his left. Inside was a number of miscellaneous objects. However Twitchy was also here un packing her stuff.

"Twitchy?" Remmie asked.

"Oh hey Remmie" she started. "I hope you don't mind me staying in here, I need a place to set my stuff up and where hopefully nobody will mess it up, oh, you want some candy" she said, throwing Remmie a green pop."

"Thanks" said Remmie catching the flying pop "no, I don't mind, I think there's a mattress somewhere in here, you can use that for now."

"Really" she said looking around the room and noticing it under a few boxes.

Remmie walked over to the mattress as she did and began to help her take them off.

"Thanks Remmie" she said with a wide smile, she was quite a bit spunkier now than when they met.

"So" Remmie asked "what's all that stuff for anyway?"

"Oh, yes, I'm a biologist. I just like to keep an operation set up wherever I am, just in case something comes up. Speaking of which I have a little place around here that has some stuff I want to get."

"A biologist, what are you studying?" Remmie asked intrigued.

"Ah I like to study whatever strikes my fancy at the time. Torch helps me with my work a lot too, he's a doctor so we kind of go hand and hand. I started though to study the nature of this curse, more so how we return to life afterwards. My studies went cold for a while though; tch like I had much progress to begin with. But more on topic that's why I found myself in Birch Tree Town, ironic that I got my lead about the time that the curse seemed to finally lift"

"I see, so have you found out anything?"

"Not much I'm afraid" Said twitchy looking somewhat disappointed "But you can bet your boots I'll find out more soon, I've got a good feeling… I probably would have found something out though but then we got flooded."

"So" started the now curious Remmie as the two of them sat on the mattress eating their candy "What was it that brought you there exactly?"

"Well" she started again "it was actually a couple of things, you see a while ago I heard of somebody immune to the curse of death, the person just never died. As it was she is another of the flood victims, I though if I could get a sample of her DNA I'd be able to crack something, I still haven't tried though. Oh yes, the main reason I went there was because I heard that somebody from here actually resurrected in that town, I've never heard of that happening before so I figured something must be going on, as it turns out it was Chunky. But even with all that I'm no closer to my answer."

At the mention of Chunky Remmie recalled why he had gone to the spare room to begin with.

"oh, sorry Twitchy" Remmie apologized "I've gotta bring some blankets out to Chunky, I'll talk to you later though."

"Right O' see ya Remmie" she said as he grabbed a bundle of blankets and brought them out to Chunky.

When Remmie returned to the living room Chunky was not there. Remmie walked over to the couch and dropped the blankets onto it. He glanced around the room and noticed Chunky in the kitchen which made him remember to check on something. Remmie hurried to the kitchen to see Chunky searching for a snack. Remmie however headed straight for the refrigerator and swung it open. To his dismay there was not much food inside.

"Damnit, I'm gonna have to go shopping later" said Remmie somewhat distraught.

"Ok, I'll go with you" said Chunky excited at the thought of picking out everyone's meals.

Remmie smiled and thought about bringing Lisa and Petunia along. That of course made him curious about how they were doing with their refugees.

"Yea, I'll probably go tomorrow" Remmie said "I'd rather avoid having to leave today."

Remmie looked to his right to see Twisty, Trippy, and Tiny in his sun room and moved to investigate. Twisty and Trippy were wandering the room observing the workmanship and Tiny was staring out of it to a tree fort in the back.

"How are you three doing?" asked Remmie to the group.

Each one turned their head and Tiny was the first to approach him. Remmie briefly considered going back into the house but it was too late.

"that's awesome, I'm totally gonna sleep out there. you don't mind do ya?" asked the hamster.

Remmie suddenly felt overcome with relief. This hamster didn't have to stay in the house, he could stay in the tree fort.

"Of course" said Remmie trying to muffle his excitement "go right ahead."

"Sweet, thanks Rems" said Tiny as he dropped his dirty skateboard to the floor and rode it out of the house leaving a dirt trail.

"Umm, you don't mind if Twisty and I stay in here do you Remmie?" asked Trippy.

Remmie observed the room. It was completely made of glass and has full of patio furniture with a door leading outside, it only had one place to sleep however and it was a thick hedgehog proof hammock. It had not occurred to Remmie to mention this room.

"Yea, I don't mind" started Remmie "but there's only one place to sleep in here."

"That's ok, I'll manage" Said Trippy.

"Oh, c'mon Trippy you can have the hammock, I'll sleep on the floor" requested Twisty.

"Don't worry about it Twisty I don't mind sleeping on the floor." rebuttaled Trippy, clearly caring more for her sisters sake than her own.

"Well you guys decide what you're gonna do, I'll see what I've got in the spare room for you" said Remmie.

Remmie turned and entered the kitchen which no longer had Chunky raiding it for he was now in the living room getting a game started. Remmie returned to the spare room to see Twitchy staring transfixed at a hurricane in a bottle. He walked over to an area of the room which he knew held camping supplies. He rummaged around for a bit and captured the attention of Twitchy.

"Hey Rems, need some help?" she asked.

Remmie continued digging until he found some blankets, a bedroll, and a sleeping bag.

"actually yea, if you wouldn't mind" Remmie responded "I might need some help checking up on everyone and getting their stuff together."

"No prob. Remmie" she said happily as she grabbed the bedroll.

The two exited the room to hear something in the basement.

"Should we see who it is?" asked Twitchy.

"We'll check after, let's just bring these to Twisty and Trippy first" Remmie responded

The two walked into the kitchen to see Twitch climbing into a cupboard. The two chose to ignore him and continued on their way to the sun room.

"we got you your stuff" Remmie informed as he and Twitchy entered the room.

The two were sitting in white chairs around a glass table sorting through their belongings. Trippy had a notebook with a number of writing and drawing tools in front of her. Twisty had finished wrapping a red ribbon around her neck and ha some sort of stuffed animal with pure blue eyes, pointy ears, arms, and no legs in front of her. They turned to see Remmie and Twitchy setting their stuff up on the floor.

"Thanks you guys" Trippy said gratefully.

"No problem" said Remmie "hopefully I'll be able to find something better, I don't want you to have to sleep on the floor the entire time you're here."

"Don't worry about it, I'm just thankful that you took us in" Said Trippy

Remmie smiled, the thought of making them happy made him feel good, as well as sympathetic, he almost teared.

"C'mon, don't be shy you two, if you need anything just ask" Remmie informed.

He and Twitchy exited the room and moved towards the basement. When they opened the door they noticed that the lights were on and music was playing. They began to walk down the stairs to see the pale yellow chipmunk Eme moving boxes and other objects aside. She was setting up a room down there.

"Everything alright down here Eme?" Remmie asked.

She turned her head, somewhat surprised, to see Remmie and Twitchy walking down the stairs.

"Hey you guys" she said spiritedly "what's up?"

"You have everything you need down here?" Remmie asked.

"I think so, you really have a lot of stuff down here" she said while probing the room.

The basement was fairly spacious with a number of un opened boxes and seldom used objects. It appeared that Eme had found an old black couch, a few small wooden tables and an old radio that was playing her music.

"Well feel free to use whatever you find, I really have no idea what I've got down here but it looks like you've got things covered" Remmie said surprised to see some of the stuff she found.

"Yea, it's fun trying to find things to use, it's like I'm decorating my room" she said joyfully.

"Well, I'll come back to check up later, see you Eme" said Remmie as he and Twitchy ascended the stairs.

"So what's up with Twitch?" Remmie asked, suddenly curious.

"I don't really know" Replied Twitchy "Torch has been curious about his condition for a while. Apparently he has tri polar disorder and Torch has been trying to figure out a cure, so far all we've been able to make are those pills that Lilith gave you, it seems to even him out, even if he's out of it most of the time afterwards."

"Do I have anything to worry about with him?" asked Remmie concerned.

"Don't know really, he used to enter bloodthirsty and murderous episodes but hasn't in a while. He's usually just sort of a nuisance, he's usually crazy and hyperactive."

Remmie scratched his head at the lack of predictability with this guy… at least now he knew why he chose to sleep on a pile of clothes in the closet. The two entered the living room to see everyone but Tiny there. Remmie realized that he hadn't checked on Midnight who was sitting on the chair examining the sword she had been carrying, her duffle bag sat next to the chair. Remmie seen that and assumed that she hadn't selected a room yet.

"You find anywhere you wanted to stay?" asked Remmie to the panther. She glanced up at Remmie.

"Not yet, could stay anywhere, I'm looking for the place I like best for now" she declared in her southern accent.

Remmie turned to see chunky playing a game eating a baggie of what looked like chocolate covered raisins and Remmie found himself compelled to join him. He walked over and sat down in his purple and red beanbag chair, he was careful not to poke another hole in it as it had already been stuck a number of times by him and filled with resin. Remmie picked up a controller and waited.

"Hang on a sec Remmie" requested Chunky "I'm almost at a part where you can join."

As Remmie waited he thought he'd check to see how everyone was doing. On the couch sat Twisty and Trippy. Twisty was hugging her stuffed animal while Trippy drew. Midnight had started to sharpen her katana. Twitch was lazily watching the game being played from on top of the end table which he had moved for a better view. Twitchy sat beside Remmie in Toothy's purple beanbag chair and watched Chunky frantically search for the location where he could add another player. Eme also entered the room and began to examine a shelf in the corner of the room where Remmie had a collection of CD's, she seemed to have also found a guitar in the basement which she had strapped to her back. Tiny was still absent.

"Ah ha, made it, press start Remmie" Chunky said excitedly.

Without delay Remmie turned his full attention to the game and pressed start. Moments later his pupils grew to nearly fill his eyes as he became fully engrossed in the game. A couple minutes had passed before anybody said anything until Trippy finally said something.

"Hey Remmie, do you have any snacks?" she asked.

Remmie briefly remembered to go shopping before giving her an answer.

"Yea, I think there's some cookies in the cupboard next to the fridge" he responded quickly.

"Thanks" she said as she left the living room.

Remmie's complete attention returned to the game. It was a game that required you to fight hordes of enemies with created characters. They had just moved forward when another horde appeared.

"Ok Remmie" started Chunky "kill them, the ones in red, I'll take care of the ones in purple."

In that instant something came over Twisty. Her carefree smile became expressionless and her gentle eyes had become blank and their whites had turned red. She stood up from the couch, her arms to her sides and she limply held her stuffed animal by its arm. She approached Remmie and turned her head to see a controller laying at the base of a small table that had a phone and paper on it which she moved over to. She had reached down and replaced her stuffed animal with a controller. This had caught the attention of Twitchy.

"Twisty?" Twitchy said curiously.

She returned to her position behind Remmie and un wound the controller. Remmie could feel her standing there. As a hedgehog training that sense was necessary to avoid impaling on accident. Remmie turned his head to see who it was. when he seen her he noticed something wrong with her eyes but was too engrossed in the game to care.

" if you wanna play" Remmie requested, turning his head back to the game "you can sit in cuddle's seat."

He pointed to the yellow beanbag chair but she didn't move. moments after Remmie invited her to play she swung the cord around Remmie's neck and pulled tightly while avoiding his spikes. In a flash Remmies eyes shrank to the size of peas, his eyes became bloodshot, and a primal rage burned in his head. Remmie's hands shot up immediately to the cord around his neck as he attempted to snap it. On impulse Chunky paused the game and jumped up from his seat. He swung around Twisty and grabbed her in a powerful bear hug causing her to drop the controller. In an instant Remmie had tossed the cord off, swung around, and throttled Twisty. With her heck in his hand he charged her into the wall near the phone.

"What the hell is the matter with you!" shouted the furious Remmie, it surprised everyone in the room.

Se did not react and only tried to dig her nails into his arm to rip away the skin… but to no avail.

Remmie responded by pulling her away from the wall and slamming her against it again, rattling the house and knocking the breath out of her. Without a second to spare Remmie dropped her to the floor and pinned her with his left hand. He then proceeded to rip off one of his spikes and held it to her throat. At some point in the struggle Trippy was drawn into the room.

"Remmie, what are you doing!" she shouted, terrified.

"Stay back Trippy" shouted Remmie in a frenzy "I don't know what the hell's wrong with her but she just tried to kill me!"

"No please Remmie don't hurt her, it's not her fault" pleaded Trippy, tears beginning to well from her eyes.

Remmie returned his attention to Twisty. What he seen was not what he expected. The red, empty eyes that he had stared into before had returned to white and were filled with tears of fear. Remmie's expression changed in an instant and the rage filling his head had subsided. He didn't know what it was but at some point in the struggle she had returned to her senses. Seeing this, Remmie released her and rubbed the back of his neck. He was really at a loss for words but then again this isn't the first time someone had gone crazy like that.

Trippy had begun to console her sister who hugged her.

"So Trippy" Remmie asked "why did she go nuts like that?"

Trippy was silent for a moment but then spoke.

"someone must have used one of the trigger words" said the fox rubbing the back of her sisters head.

"Care to enlighten me?" asked Remmie.

Trippy looked around and grabbed a pen and piece of paper. She them began to write something down and handed it to Remmie. It read "kill them" and "strawberry jam".

"Trigger words" Remmie started "what's that all about?"

"I really don't know" replied Trippy who had grabbed Twisty's doll and handed it to her "we adopted her and found out these words the hard way. All we know about her past is that she was part of some project."

Remmie showed the note around so people would know not to say those things.

"Well so long as she's not like this all the time we probably not have to worry too much" said Remmie.

"Damn, you're more of a fighter than I took you for" declared Midnight.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Remmie.

"it means that that was a pretty nice show, you really got balls, you looked like you really were gonna kill her" she said bluntly.

Trippy didn't seem to like this conversation much.

Remmie looked away, thinking to himself when the doorbell rang.

"I've got it" Remmie said wanting to move away from these unpleasantries.

Remmie had gone to the door and opened it to see that it had been Flaky who had been knocking.

"Hey Flaky" Remmie said "what brings you here?"

"Hi Remmie, umm. I just thought that, well since you have to take care of all these people I thought that you might need some help. Umm… I thought you should have this" said the porcupine handing him a bag of something metallic "it's the money I won from the dance, I just thought that you would need it more than me."

Remmie smiled and accepted, he did need it, especially if he intended to feed all these people.

"Thanks Flaky… you wanna come in?" Remmie asked.

Flaky looked around the room at all of the people inside and walked through the front door. Everyone seemed to have recovered from the shakeup and returned to their business. Chunky was even back at the game, beckoning for them to join. Remmie returned to his beanbag chair and Flaky sat in hers, the pure red one and picked up a controller. They had begun to play again, this time Chunky watched what he said. Twitchy sat back down in Toothy's seat to continue watching.

"Hey, you guys want some of these?" Chunky asked holding up his baggie of chocolaty treats.

Flaky held out her hands and received a couple handfuls to pass down the row. They each popped a couple into their mouths and ate them. To Remmie's surprise they weren't soft but crunchy. Remmie paused the game and stared into space.

"Chunky…" Remmie started "what were those?"

"Chocolate covered peanut…" said chunky, stopping mid sentence.

Remmies pupils shrank and he dropped his handful of peanuts, as did Flaky. The two looked at each other and got up from their seats, stepping back over the beanbag chairs. Their eyes locked onto each other as they observed their own inevitable processes through each other. First came the purple rash that Remmie could see covering Flaky. He was able to feel his own. Next Flaky's lips puffed up to about four to five times their original size. With an uncomfortable heating sensation Remmie felt his do the same. Everyone stared in astonishment, at a loss for words, except for Twitch who was laughing his ass off. Then in a flash Flaky bloated to about twice the size of chunky and a fraction of a second later Remmie did the same. This resulted in Remmie bumping Twitchy to the ground and his and Flaky's stomachs colliding. As a result they rolled over to their sides barely able to move. Remmie reached desperately for the phone while Twitchy rose to her feet. As Twitchy was about to grab it Twitch jumped in and took it.

"Give me the phone Twitch" Twitchy demanded.

"Ha ha ha, but why, don't you think they're more hilarious like this" he said in a maniacal tone.

Twitchy lunged for the phone but Twitch hoped away from her.

"C'mon, if they want it so bad they'll come get it" he said laughing all the while.

In that instant everyone in the room engaged in pursuing the deranged rabbit up the stairs. Flaky was whimpering fearfully. Moments later the last person Remmie wanted to see entered the house. In his hand was a half empty bottle of whiskey as he staggered around the room.

"h-hey, wha- what happened to you guys huh" said the Tiny as he poked Flakys bloated stomach "heh heh heh, you- you guys… gotta watch what yo- you eat huh, heh heh heh, cuz, you guys ish- ish gett'n fat, heh heh."

The sauced hamster staggered over to Remmie and threw himself into his stomach making Remmie feel sicker than he already was.

"Ahhhh, niesh and comfy" he said settling down against a swollen Remmie "you- you know what guysh, you guysh would make an awesome… couch you know what I'm shay'n, yea, I'd bet that if someone sewed you together you'd make the best couch… in the whole world, you guys know what I'm shay'n"

Remmie desperately wanted to strangle this guy but he could barely move his arms. What Remmie experienced next was a gamers worst nightmare as he watched Tiny un pause the game and begin to play it. Almost immediately Chunky's idle character was killed and Remmie's was crouching over dead enemies faces.

"Ha ha ha, howdya like that you… bastard" shouted Tiny just before he was killed. "Ahh son of a bitch this game is sssshhhhhtupid"

At that he swigged the rest of the whisky and stood up, pushing against Remmie for support.

"Hey, I'm gonna go see what- what you got for food in- in this house" Said Tiny as he staggered out of the room, tossing the whisky bottle onto the floor.

Remmie couldn't turn his head to see where he was going but he notices Flaky still nervously whimpering. Remmie tried to give her a re assuring smile but he could barely move his lips. What he could make out however she seemed to be able to read as she tried to return one with her whimpering subsiding. To their relief they heard the sirens of an ambulance outside meaning that they must have finally gotten the phone away from Twitch.

As the two were loaded into the ambulance with there being barely enough room for them chunky came rushing out of the door to check on his friends. He asked the driver Sniffles if it would be ok to go with them and Sniffles allowed it.

An hour or so later in the hospital room after having been required to drink a rancid cocktail of un identifiable liquid medicines and dissolved pills Remmie and Flaky were returning to their normal states. Chunky soon entered the room to check on his friends.

"I'm sorry guys" said Chunky feeling quite angry with himself "I forgot you were allergic to peanuts."

"Don't worry about it chunky, it's not like that's the first time it's happened" Replied Remmie trying to re assure his friend "besides it's my fault too, I assumed that they were chocolate covered raisins."

"Come on guys, it's neither of your faults, it was just a mistake" said Flaky not wanting to hear them blame themselves.

"Yea I know.. But I could have killed you two" he said feeling terrible.

"Have we ever died from that before chunky" started Remmie "no, only alternate factors afterwards caused that, left alone, we'd just be stuck like that for a few days."

Chunky had never known the statistics behind it and felt somewhat better. He looked to Flaky who gave him the same re-assuring look.

"Jeez though, you've been through a lot today" Chunky started "I mean someone did try to kill you, and now… thanks to me… you're at the hospital. Not to mention it's gotta be awkward having so many people you barely know living in your house."

Remmie thought to himself about his crowd.

"They're not too bad" started Remmie "I'm sure twitch is gonna be a problem, and definitely Tiny, but the others are fine. Now that we know what not to say around Twisty, she shouldn't be a problem. Anyway, I'm just glad to have someone I'm good friends with living there too… oh yes that reminds me, Twitchy told me that you found yourself resurrected in Birch Tree Town, how did that work out?

"No idea, I was there for a couple days until I got enough money to head back here, then we ended up getting flooded." replied Chunky.

Remmie thought to himself and remembered something, he remembered chunky as the last person he seen die before the death rate dropped.

"Sorry I can't tell you more, I've been trying to figure this out myself ever since it happened" said the Koala.

"Umm guys" started Flaky "if it helps at all I found myself resurrected in the woods a day or so before chunky died."

Remmie contemplated on this, when they returned to life it was usually in their own house, he had never heard of people being brought to these random locations before… for now he knew too little of things to get a theory so he decided to stop worrying about it.

"So, how did you guys manage to get the phone from Twitch?" Asked Remmie.

"it was Midnight who did most of it, she can be pretty crazy herself, we pretty much just cornered him in your room… made quite a mess too. Midnight's the one who got him though, Twitchy's the one who managed to make the call. In fact that's why they didn't come to see you, they figured they'd clean up the mess in your room for you for when you got back."

This made Remmie feel good, knowing that his group can be dependable and seemed to care about him.

A little while later they had left the hospital and began the trek home. Remmie and Flaky were still a bit groggy from the meds but they'd get over it. When Remmie opened the door the only ones in the living room were Eme who was listening to music and Twitchy who was trying out the games.

"Hey you two, feeling better?" asked and greeted Eme

This caught the attention of Twitchy who was previously engrossed in the game.

"Hey, you guys are ok, awesome" she said excitedly.

"Umm Remmie…" asked Flaky "do you mind if I stay here tonight, it's getting late and I don't really feel too good."

"Yea, go ahead, I'll get you your stuff" replied Remmie.

"That's alright Remmie, I'll get her stuff for her" said Twitchy "you've had a rough day."

"Hang on a minute Twitchy, I'll help you" requested Eme.

The two went to the spare room. Remmie was feeling tired from his hellish day but figured he'd check on everyone before he went to bed. His first stop was the basement, though Eme wasn't down there the work she had done was impressive, her style was definitely present in it given what she had to work with, she had managed to find a large rug and an old coffee table to set her stuff on. She even found an old TV to use, it looked quite cozy… for a basement.

"Wow, she really did all this with junk she found down here" said Chunky surprised.

The next stop was the sun room, both Twisty and Trippy were present, Trippy was drawing and Twisty was watching her.

"Hey Remmie" said Trippy , noticing the three entering "umm… sorry about what happened earlier, I shouldn't have been so irresponsible, I should have told you guys earlier about her condition… I just didn't want you to reject her."

She sounded quite solemn and apologetic.

"Don't worry about it" said Remmie "I know how it must have felt, it's all out in the open now and we can move on. I'm not one to hold a grudge from a mistake."

Flaky smiled at his forgiveness.

"Well… thank you." she said shyly.

"Sorry" said Twisty, she still didn't feel forgiven and had to apologize herself.

Remmie walked over to her and patted her head, she flinched a little but then grew relaxed.

"it's ok" he said "like your sister said, it's not your fault, you're free to stay here."

She smiled from behind the stuffed animals head. Remmie then turned to leave.

"Well I'm glad you're better Remmie" said Trippy "maybe tomorrow will be normal huh?"

Remmie turned and smiled as well as noticed the tree fort which he had no intention of checking on. He felt it would be safe to assume that it had been carved into, vomited on, and strewn with empty whiskey bottles.

Next Remmie cautiously opened the closet door to see the pale yellow Rabbit sitting on the pile of clothes in a daze. Remmie had guessed that they had gotten medicine into him. He proceeded to close the door. The girls had also begun to set up Flaky's bedding.

"Hey you three, just give us a minute and we'll have your bed ready Flaky" said Eme.

Remmie was glad to see their knowledge of the situation and that they grabbed hedgehog proof bedding instead of the regular stuff filling the spare room. Flaky wandered over to it feeling exhausted while Chunky began to play the game.

"I take it you'll be going to bed now Remmie?" asked Chunky.

Remmie nodded and began to ascend the stairs. On his way up he heard the girls shout out that they'd take care of the lights before they went to bed. Remmie opened the door to his bedroom only to be surprised yet again. Suspended in the corner of his room, across from his bed was a hammock, and an empty duffle bag on the floor. Inside the hammock was the panther Midnight.

"umm… midnight… why are you in here?" Remmie asked

"Huh" she said looking over the hammock "you told me I could stay anywhere so I chose here."

"This is my room you know" said Remmie.

"and now it's our room" she said casually "C'mon no need to be so selfish, did your mother ever teach you to share."

Remmie tried to think of something to say but decided to find out why she was there.

"I'll just ask it then, why did you pick my room?" he asked.

"What can I say, I like the view from that giant window, I also like that wall of weapons you have over there and how well they contrast with the cute little critter posters over there, says a lot about you" she told him.

Remmie blushed, he really didn't care to argue with the girl and decided to just go to bed.

"Well, alright" said Remmie, still feeling a bit awkward.

"Don't worry about me, just think of me as an early warning system in case someone _else_ tries to kill you tonight" she said.

Remmie didn't want to think about anything else bad happening tonight and laid down on his bed and turned off the lights. He stared into the ceiling for a bit before thinking his final phrase of the night

"I hate my life."

[you made it to the end again, for that you have been thanked. There are two more houses that need to get settled so be sure to read and laugh at everyone's misfortune as the mayhem continues. Merry Christmas/ Xmas/ Happy holidays to you all.]


	5. Lisa's House Warming

[here we are again, this time it's Lisa's turn to experience a bit of mayhem. By the way, I just want everyone to know that Shelby is not that characters real name and her creator should know who it is. Also, to anyone who's curious as to what game Remmie and Chunky were playing last chapter. I made it up. Now then onward to stories!]

1:10 Petunia's group had left Lisa's and each group was now on their own. Lisa stood before her beautiful home and felt a sense of pride knowing that these people were seeing it.

"Alright y'all this is my house" she stated proudly "when we go in you may look, but just don't mess with anything that shouldn't be messed with go it. Everything is exactly how I want it and I don't want it getting screwed up. Alright then, welcome."

Lisa opened the door to reveal a beautiful home, the results of years worth of effort. It was quite elaborately color coded, contrasted, and symmetrical. It was easy to tell her favorite color as everything was centered around complimenting pink. Wavy shelves were full of knick knacks, all positioned perfectly to create the beautiful scenery her house had. It also had a number of luxuries in the living room alone which was also the largest room in the house. On a large pink and white carpet was a large pink sofa facing a large TV. At the back of the room there was a large round hot tub surrounded with white and pink tile flooring. The room just radiated an ambience un like anything else they'd seen. Of course not everyone could be pleased with it. Thunder clearly couldn't stand it but didn't really care to say anything. Dubble didn't seem to like it either. Nobody else had a problem with it and some like Glitter and Araya seemed to enjoy it.

"Ok people, I don't mind where you stay, just don't tamper with my set up" Said Lisa laying down the rules "there are two bathrooms, both down here, one in that door in the corner and the other is in the hall along the base of the stairs. Past the stairs, over there to the left, is the kitchen, you can all eat in here, it's where I usually eat. The door near the hot tub leads to the basement, I have a dance studio down there. Up stairs is my room and my room of miscellaneous activity… you'll know when you see it. So that about covers it."

Everyone took their time, there was a lot to look at, Thunder however made a B line for the basement.

"You know, you're not going to escape the pink down there pal" Said Lisa giving him a scowl, she had definitely noticed his displeasure and pinpointed it.

Thunder gave a cold stare that read with annoyance but continued towards the basement. Lisa turned her attention to her other guests who seemed to be exploring the living room. Lisa felt quite proud because of their interest. Dubble however seemed more interested in finding where he was going to stay.

"What's the matter?" asked Lisa to the dog

He remained silent, something seemed to be annoying him.

"you got anywhere less bright?" Dubble asked "I'm starting to feel nauseous."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lisa demanded.

"it means that this room is too bright, you got anywhere that's not so pink?" he replied.

Lisa wanted to get on him about his attitude and about how insulted she felt but she chose to let it go, after all, there was nothing in the letter that said they had to _like _their refugees. Lisa thought for a moment, most of her house had the same brightness, pink or no.

"Well, maybe the miscellaneous room up stairs" she told Dubble "but I'm sure you'll have people going in and out of there for things though.

"that's fine, they leave me to my business and I could care less what they do" Dubble replied.

Lisa did not like this guy much at all, still, he was her responsibility. Dubble took off up stairs leaving Lisa with the rest of her guests. She really didn't like the attitudes she was being given today.

"How are you guys doing?" asked Lisa to the group.

Glitter was intrigued by the interesting displays on Lisa's shelves and seemed somewhat transfixed on them. Ansom was sitting on the couch while Araya flipped through the channels on the TV. Shelby was ready to watch anything on the TV. Lilith however seemed a bit cautious and peered around the room and seen what she was looking for.

"Lisa" said the wolf "take it off the wall before I smash it!"

She sounded quite nervous and angry.

"What, take what off the wall?" Lisa asked confused.

"You know what, that mirror, take it down or I'm going to smash it" Lilith threatened.

Lisa didn't know what to think, she didn't want to ruin her display but this somehow seemed serious. Lisa hesitantly removed the mirror from the wall, still confused and gave Lilith a confused look.

"If you have any more of those things hanging up, take them down" the wolf demanded.

despite the harshness of Lilith's attitude, Lisa could hear a semblance of fear which stopped her from getting angry. Lisa did as she asked and removed the mirrors she had in the living room.

"Alright Lilith, they're down, but I'm not taking down any of the ones in the bathrooms, got it, you gotta use the bathroom then go outside or close your eyes when you gotta go" Lisa stated sternly.

With the lack of mirrors in the room Lilith seemed to calm down.

"Fine" she told Lisa.

With that, she turned to the hot tub and tried to figure out how to work it.

"Excuse me Miss Lisa umm… do you mind if I visit your dance studio?" asked Glitter.

"No, go right ahead, I think I'm going to go down there myself" replied Lisa "anyone else want to come?"

Araya looked at her over the couch.

"Araya wants to" she said "do you want to come too big brother?"

Ansom looked at her and showed a dim smile.

"ok" he said, his voce could easily be mistaken for a female.

Araya smiled excitedly and hopped off of the couch with Ansom in tow.

"You coming too?" Lisa asked Lilith.

Lilith did not answer, she was pre occupied with trying to figure out what each button on the hot tub was for. Lisa let out a frustrated sigh and continued down the stairs. When they reached the bottom of the stairs Lisa immediately noticed the door to her storage was open and had a large banner with a strange symbol on it hanging above the door. Inside, she could see Thunder rummaging through her stuff and trying to make that room a little more to his liking. Even the storage had had a little decorating done to it by Lisa. The dance studio its self was quite large and held all of the amenities for a number of dance routines. Glitter wandered around, loving the open space. He walked to the center of the room and opened his backpack. From it he removed a number of small colored balls. He set up his circus ball and stood on it. He then began to perform one of his routines by balancing on the ball and juggling. Araya seemed to be trying to dance… but wasn't very good. Lisa's attention was focused on Thunder however and what he was doing to her storage.

"What are you doing" she asked sternly.

"setting up my office" he said "I still have to keep my business going. I may not intend to stay here long, but I like to have a port in the storm."

"you're kidding me right, you're acting like this is your house" Lisa exclaimed annoyed.

"Calm it pinky, I don't care about your house, this room is all I need, I have an operation to run" said Thunder.

"operation, what operation" Lisa asked annoyed.

"People will pay good money for mercs, I supply them, and my mercs are the best there are" said Thunder.

"Mercenaries?" asked Lisa "are you serious."

"You ever hear of Phoenix clan?" he asked.

"can't say that I have" replied Lisa.

"Yea, I guess not many of you around here would" said thunder "We're in pretty high demand over seas though. We've had a hand in nearly every war since our establishment. We used to be an army until our own battles had ended, now we help others fight theirs. It's damn good money."

Lisa could hardly believe what she was hearing, she never would have thought she'd be anywhere near war and now she was to house some mercenary leader who's still in operation.

"just don't chase anyone out of here if they need anything from here okay" Lisa requested.

"Let them do what they've gotta do, I really don't care" he said.

With that Lisa left the room and entered the dance studio. When he seen her Glitter tried to impress her with a trick but instead fell off of the ball onto the floor. Lisa seen this and became worried. She hurried over to the fox.

"Are you ok?" she asked while reaching out with her hand to help him.

Glitter lifted his head, he seemed to have landed on his face, his cheek was swollen.

"Ok, hang on a sec" Lisa said as she hurried to a door to the side of the studio. Inside appeared to be a dressing room. There was a small freezer in the back that served as Lisa's goal. When she opened it she pulled out an ice pack and returned to Glitter.

"Here" she told him holding the ice pack out to him.

Glitters face was red with embarrassment. He took the ice pack and pressed it against his face.

"Thank you" he told her quietly though she could still hear him.

"You know, I've got mats you can use if you want to practice, a lot softer a landing than the floor" suggested Lisa.

"ok" he said softly.

Lisa walked to the storage which was still inhabited by Thunder. She ignored him and went straight for the mats. Thunder also seemed to have set some up for his own use. With a bunch under her arms she returned to the studio.

"Here you go Glitter" said Lisa as she laid down the mats.

"Thank you Miss Lisa" he said gratefully.

"Not a problem Glitter" Lisa replied "why do you keep calling me Miss anyway?"

This seemed to surprise Glitter.

"Umm… do, do you not like it?" he asked nervously.

"Well you can call me Miss if you want, I don't mind, but you don't have too" replied Lisa.

"O… ok" he said, though he just didn't feel right not calling her Miss.

"Can Araya join" asked Araya to Lisa holding out a notebook.

The notebook was Lisa's and inside it was filled with names and schedules. It was a notebook for dance lessons.

"sure, you can join" Replied Lisa happily "we can get you in during our next lesson"

Araya smiled and jumped happily. Lisa also noticed Glitter staring at the notebook.

"You want to join too Glitter" asked Lisa.

Glitter nodded silently and Lisa added him to the list.

"Ok, next lessons are tomorrow, we'll get to them just after I go shopping for y'all alright" said Lisa.

Araya seemed to be quite excited while Glitter was a bit nervous.

"you gonna join too Ansom?" Lisa asked.

"Nah, dancing's not really my thing, I'm glad to see Araya excited about it though" Replied Ansom.

"you don't want to dance with me big brother?" Araya asked.

This put Ansom on the spot, not wanting to disappoint his sister but he wasn't the best dancer and didn't really care to join.

"You could probably just jump in at the lessons if you want to" Lisa told to Ansom "then you could just dance with her a little bit and you'd both be happy."

Ansom looked relieved.

"That works, thanks" he said to Lisa.

Lisa smiled then decided to return up stairs to check on her other guests. She brought her notebook with her just in case… she knew Thunder was out of the question. Upon ascending the stairs she noticed Shelby and Lilith watching TV.

"Hey Lisa" said Lilith "I think I may have broken your hot tub"

Lisa's pupils shrank and she ran over to it. She opened and inspected the control box to see that a number of wires had been re arranged and some of the controls had been broken.

"How the hell did you manage this Lilith!" Lisa shouted.

"I don't know, the buttons weren't working so I pounded on them and heard something snap" Lilith started "I opened it up to see what it was and a bunch of wires were out so I tried to fix it."

Lisa was at a loss for words.

"I could have a look at it if you want Lisa" said Shelby.

"Would you please Shelby" Lisa pleaded "I really wanted to use it tonight."

"No problem Lisa" said Shelby as she got up from the couch.

She walked over to Lisa and kneeled down by the control box. She had no idea what she was doing but tried anyway. She reached in and found two disconnected cords. There was only one place to put them however so she tried to place them both. She instantly received a sharp zap which made her and Lisa scream in unison. The control box started to smoke a little bit and the TV went out. Lisa and Thorn stared into the smoking control box speechless.

"Damnit, I'm gonna have to call the repair men" Lisa said.

"Sorry Lisa I umm… think I may have made it worse" said Shelby.

"It's fine Shelby" said Lisa a bit frustrated.

Lisa stood up, walked over to the phone, and called the repair service. Unfortunately the voice she got belonged to Lumpy but she wasn't in any position to be picky, she had them hired.

"So who's coming?" asked Shelby.

"Lumpy and Handy, I guess Reuger's working today too" said Lisa.

"Lumpy… oh yes that moose right, handy is that orange beaver, and Reuger's the skink with the crimson stripes right?" asked Shelby.

"Yea, how do you know them anyway?" Lisa asked.

"I've been it town a couple of times before the flood, can't remember all the jobs I've seen them working" said Shelby.

Lisa thought to herself, though it was still bright inside she knew the power was out.

"Hey Shelby, you wanna help me get some lighting for the people down stairs, I should have some lanterns up stairs" said Lisa.

"Alright" Shelby replied.

Lisa noticed her blinking and rubbing her eyes frequently during the conversation but paid it no mind. When they arrived to the stair case Shelby stopped.

"Sorry Lisa, do you mind getting the stuff, I need to use your restroom" said Shelby.

"Alright, I'll bring the stuff down, I will need help o bring it down stairs though, it's gonna be pretty dark" Lisa said.

"ok, I'll hurry" Shelby said.

With that she hurried to the restroom while Lisa ascended the stairs. To her right was the miscellaneous room which held the lanterns. When she entered she found some already lit and Dubble asleep with his head on a desk. He awoke when Lisa entered the room.

"What the hell happened to the power?" he asked.

"Lilith screwed around with my hot tub" she told him.

"Really, that's a shame, I wanted to use it later, ah well" he said "well, let me know when it gets fixed"

"you know, you could make yourself useful and help me bring down some of these lanterns" she said.

"Yea that sounds like great fun and all but I think I'd much rather not" he said.

"Fine, whatever" Lisa said as she grabbed a bunch of lanterns and brought them down stairs. From the bathroom she heard the sink running but returned up stairs to grab more lanterns. Inside Dubble had fallen asleep again and Lisa ignored him. She gathered more lanterns and some fuel and brought them back down stairs. However Lisa was still able to hear the sink going in the bathroom, remembering her eye problems earlier Lisa knocked on the door.

"Hey Shelby, you ok in there?" Lisa asked.

"Lisa? Umm, yea yea I'm fine" Shelby told her.

Lisa heard something plastic hit the floor. She did not sound like she was going to the bathroom. Lisa grabbed the door handle and swung it opened and Shelby turned to her. It was not what Lisa had expected. When she looked into Shelby's eyes they were not red but an emerald green and the markings on her face were broken up.

"Shelby!" said Lisa surprised.

"oh god, Lisa please, you can't let Rose know" Shelby pleaded.

"What, Rose, what now?" Lisa said even more confused.

Shelby was quite flustered now.

"Ah, well never mind" she said.

"What happened to your face" Lisa asked.

She noticed a plastic container on the floor and what looked like some sort of contact lens on the floor next to it.

"uhh, well…" Shelby couldn't think of anything to say… but the truth.

Shelby let out a sigh.

"Could you close the door please Lisa. I should probably let you know" said Shelby.

Lisa turned to the door and closed it.

"Ok then. First of all my name isn't Shelby, it's Thorn, I've just gotta ask you to not say my real name aloud to anyone else, I can't risk them knowing" started Thorn "the red eyes, and the facial markings are just a disguise, I can't let Rose know who I am."

"Why is that?" asked Lisa.

"I… I can't really tell you" she said "I just need you to promise that you won't let anyone else know, alright."

Lisa was still confused but she could feel that it was something personal.

"Alright Thorn, I'll keep your secret" Promised Lisa "I may not have any idea what it's about but I'm sure you'll work it out when your ready. If those contacts are bothering you, maybe you should let the others here know so you can walk around without them."

Thorn was silent for a moment.

"I'd love to be able to do that, but I don't know who I can trust." she said.

"Well" Lisa started "I'm sure you can trust Glitter, Araya, and Ansom. Thunder Probably wouldn't care enough to bother telling anybody, likely the same with Dubble. Lilith might not be the most reliable but maybe we could appeal to any sense of decency she may have."

Thorn thought about it for a moment then nodded, it'd be a relief to get rid of those contacts. They heard a ring at the door, most likely the repairmen.

"You go greet them, I'll take care of the lanterns when I'm done here" said Thorn.

Lisa nodded and left the bathroom, through the peep hole in the front door she could see Lumpy's eye looking directly at it. Lisa opened the door for them.

"Hello Lisa" said Lumpy strutting into her house "What did you say needed fix'n"

"Hot tub Lumpy" said handy "think that's the fourth time I've had to remind you. Hey Lisa."

Reuger waved as he entered and headed straight over to the hot tub.

"Alright" said lumpy "lets see what the problem is"

"Hey Lumpy" said Reuger "think maybe we should get the power back on first"

"Yep" said lumpy standing up and walking over to the basement just as Thorn passed by with the lanterns.

Handy held a flashlight in his mouth as Reuger examined the mess of wires in the control box. When he looked over the control box he found that there was another box on the wall, probably providing power for the hot tub, he figured that it might have been the cause of all this from the beginning. There would be no point in checking that right now though. Soon after Lumpy descended the stairs Litter came up.

"Excuse me Miss Lisa umm…do you mind if i use your bathroom?" he asked.

"Go ahead Glitter, you don't need to ask me that alright" Lisa responded.

"Ok, thank you" he said as moved towards the nearest one.

A good chunk of time had passed before the power returned and Handy and Reuger could finally get to work. First Reuger began to re wire the hot tub and repair the broken control panel. Lumpy soon ascended the stairs back to the living room.

"Ah good, Lumpy can you open that box on the wall and check it out?" asked Handy.

Lilith watched silently, feeling like an idiot for not having noticed the box on the wall.

Lumpy examined it to notice that some of the wiring was jumbled together and a few switches were stuck in place.

"Looks like it's been a while since you last checked this Lisa" said Lumpy "Don't worry, I'll have it fixed in a jiffy."

"Here, you got this Reuger, I think the moose is gonna need my help" said Handy as he watched Reuger finish re wiring the hot tub.

Reuger switched positions to finish fixing the control pad while Lumpy and Handy worked on the wall box. Just as Reuger finished repairing the control box a large pop sounded from behind him at the wall box. It surprised everyone in the room. Un fortunately it also surprised Reuger who as a result of training in the war reacted to the sudden fright by accidentally covering Lumpy and handy in his amber colored spray. This caused handy to vomit and Lumpy to pass out. The fumes radiated from them and it was all pandemonium as Lilith's eyes burned and Handy clamored around. Glitter had finished using the bathroom and found himself in the range of the fumes as well and collapsed onto the floor crying with his eyes burning. Reuger scurried around in an embarrassed panic.

"Sorry, sorry, ah. Damnit, Lisa do you have anything to clear this up?" he asked.

Being a skunk Lisa was also unaffected by the fumes but plugged her nose from the smell.

"Damnit Reuger, don't you have any control?" she asked angrily.

"Hey, I'm sorry, but that's not the point, you've gotta have something for this" he said frazzled.

"Yes, hang on" said Lisa as she hurried to the kitchen.

"upon hearing the commotion from up stairs Thorn appeared to check on the situation but ended up another victim as she stumbled around and fell beside the hot tub. She was shortly followed by Araya and Ansom. Reuger stared at them terrified as they also succumbed to the spray effects.

"Ahh, big brother, where are you, Araya's eyes hurt…" she said just before she bumped into him and sent them both tumbling down the stairs into Thunders room who didn't seem to care about the commotion.

Moments later Dubble came down stairs to watch the chaos he was hearing but just like the others fell victim to the fumes. Reuger stood over the group of agonized people and felt terrible. Soon Lisa returned to the room spraying a bottle of some liquid into the air. She tossed one to Reuger who proceeded to pray it onto Handy and Lumpy who would be smelling awful for days regardless. Soon the room was clear of fumes and the smell slowly began to subside. Lumpy and Handy stood up and looked at Reuger angrily. The two marched over to Lisa who paid them and they left, leaving Reuger behind.

"Umm… well, your hot tubs fixed, so… I'll just be going" said Reuger.

Lisa handed him his pay when his phone rang. It was Petunia.

"Well, I have another call anyways so umm, sorry everyone" he said as he walked out the door.

Everyone began to rise to their feet, shaking off the after effects.

"Well that was pretty horrible, great choice of repairmen by the way" said Lilith annoyed.

"What ever, the hot tubs fixed so we can all just relax in it ok." Lisa said.

"yea, but it still smells skunked in here" said Lilith.

Lisa left the room to the cupboard beneath the stairs and retrieved a strong deodorizing incense designed for this occurrence and brought it out to the living room. She lit it and placed it on a table near the hot tub.

"There, now it should be fine" she said as she turned on the hot tub and climbed in.

All of the stress she had gone through today seemed to just fade away and everyone but thunder joined her. she tilted her head back and relaxed.

"_I bet Remmie and Petunia have had much better luck with this than me_" she thought to herself. Moments after thinking that the sound of an ambulance could be heard rushing by.

The rest of the night was spent with small talk and relaxation, Thorn told everyone who she was and even Lilith didn't seem to wan to spill her secret, Thorn would keep up the disguise around Rose though.

Eventually everyone made their way out of the hot tub. What they had experienced prior to the hot tub left most of them quite tired. Lilith and Thorn chose to sleep in the living room. Araya, Glitter, and Ansom chose to sleep in the dance studio. Thunder obviously chose to stay in his "base" and Dubble chose to keep his place in the room of miscellaneous things.

"You all set Dubble?" Lisa asked on her way to her room.

Dubble was fidgeting with a box and turned his attention to her.

"I'm fine" he said.

"you don't even have a bed set up" she told him.

"I know, I'll bother with that later, don't you have somewhere better to be than bothering me?" he asked annoyed.

Despite Lisa's efforts she couldn't get this guy to open up to her, even Thunder was better to talk to than this guy. She decided to get to bed now as she would have another long day tomorrow.

[there y'all go, next chapter is about Petunia and her squatters/refugees. See ya there folks.]


	6. Petunia's House Warming

[Here we are. Time for Petunia to get settled in, how will she fare. Be sure to review and let me know what you guys think, also if you have yet to review any previous chapters, feel free to do so, it helps to see what I did right]

1:20 Petunia and her group had just arrived at her home. Her yard was vibrantly decorated with her freshly planted flowers all along the cobblestone path to her tree house. Petunia was anxious ever since the train station but it was even more so now. Petunia stood before her door and glanced back to make sure nobody stepped on her garden. She knew Kurt and Andy well enough but she hated not being sure about the others. She was particularly cautious about Keni and this thing she had wheeled the entire way. She had no choice but to get them settled in so she took a breath and opened the door to lead everyone inside. Her living room, like the others, was the first room they entered. It was much more simple than Remmie's and Lisa's. it had a rug in the middle of the floor and another with a floral pattern beneath the couch and the TV. The house its self had a blue color scheme, you'd never know that she lived in a tree.

"Ok, before we get started I have one rule" announced Petunia "no messes, I'm not going to spend every day cleaning up after you alright."

Despite that statement being addressed to everyone it seemed to be focused more towards Kurt and Andy and they knew it.

"Well don't worry about us pets" said Kurt "I feel kinda bad for you about this so, Andy and I have decided to stay in the basement, out of your way."

"We did?" asked Andy knowing Kurt was being an ass "well, I'm fine with it."

"Well then, let's get un loaded" said Kurt as he moved towards the basement door.

Petunia had been doing her best to avoid going down there ever since the disastrous mess Lumpy caused, took her and her friends days to pump out and clean. Sometimes the smell would return. She had no problem with them staying there.

Petunia looked at the rest of her guests, Kurt and Andy were out of the way, now what was she to do with them.

"Well, I guess some of you could sleep in the living room" she said "the bathroom is that door across the room. The room at the end of the hall is the kitchen and dining room. The stairs are in the room to the right in the hall. There's a smaller bathroom up stairs and a small bedroom that I haven't used much. Umm… I guess you can pick where you wanna sleep, I also have a store room in the door past the stairs that should have everything you need."

Keni's ears perked up when she heard storage room for some reason and headed towards it, during which Petunia watched what the others were doing, cautiously. Like the others these refugees had to figure out what they were going to do themselves.

"Thanks for taking me in" said Bubble "sorry that you have to house all of us though, I can't imagine what it's like having to house so many strangers, if you need help with anything, you can just ask me."

"I'll help you too Petunia, if you need it" said Alexis.

Petunia smiled happily and gave them both a hug.

"Thank you guys" said Petunia gratefully "I'm just getting so stressed out with this."

"it's alright Petunia" said Bubble "it's why we're gonna help."

"That's cute" said Rose smugly while settling onto the couch. She was clearly poking fun at them.

Petunia noticed Torch fidgeting with his peg leg.

"Something wrong Torch?" Petunia asked.

Torch looked at her and responded.

"Oh, no not a problem, I'm just trying to get used to this thing" he said "I got it a couple days ago, kinda drives me crazy though."

"Well… you wanna sit down then?" Petunia asked.

"Nah, I'm fine for now, I've gotta find somewhere to stay anyway" said the porcupine limping off down the hall.

Suddenly they heard a loud crash from the basement.

"Awe come on, what are they doing down there" groaned Petunia who went to check. Bubble and Alexis followed her.

"Don't worry guys, I've got this, you two need to find out where you're going to stay" said Petunia.

"aright Petunia" said Bubble "just call if you need anything."

"Same here Petunia" said Alexis.

The two went their own ways while Petunia descended the stairs. From the bottom she could here Kurt and Andy arguing as she approached.

"Well where the hell did it get to" growled Kurt who was crawling around on the floor.

"I'm pretty sure it went behind the water heater" said Andy

"what are you two doing?" asked Petunia.

Kurt lifted his head to respond to her but hit his head on a metal desk that he was searching under. As a result he reached up to check his mohawk.

"Awwe damnit, my quill snapped" said Kurt plucking off part of a broken quill. It definitely made his mohawk look a bit un even.

"Kurt dumped a case full of gun parts all over the floor" said Andy.

"Damnit I told you I was going to drop it, you were supposed to catch it!" shouted Kurt.

"it's not my fault you're a butter fingers" said Andy.

"Ah whatever, we'll find it later. So what is it pets" said Kurt who had quickly calmed down.

"Well while I'm down here, do you two have what you need?" asked Petunia.

"Yea, got any extra furniture?" Kurt asked "all we've got is this metal table and that's where the gun cases and Andy are going.

"Not at all Kurt I mean, you just bashed your head against it, as far as I'm concerned that's the same as claiming it" said Andy.

"Ah shut it Andy you weird little, sub cat , civet thing" Kurt said. Petunia found it hard to believe that he was in a good mood.

"I think I've got a chair or something in the spare room" said Petunia.

"Awesome, tell us what you've got and I'll have Andy bring it down" said Kurt.

Petunia stared at them until she turned around and ascended the stairs. In the living room she noticed Rose and Alexis watching TV and left them to their business. She turned into the hall way and past the stairs to the storage room. Inside was something she hadn't expected to see, it looked like a metallic igloo large enough for four to five friends. Petunia stared at it and noticed Torch positioning something on the side.

"Torch, did you do this" asked Petunia dumbfounded.

"Who, me?" asked the Porcupine "no, this is actually Keni's thing, I'm just helping her set it up."

"Petunia, is that you" said an echoing voice from within the igloo.

Moments later the tiger Keni opened the small door in the front and exited.

"Hey Petunia, you like it" she said "I call it the Super Stellar Sleeper Shelter 2.0. It's only a prototype which is why it's so small, it's supposed to be an armored and self sustaining shelter that can be deployed anywhere, I just finished working on it before the flood. I'm hoping to work out any kinks and make a larger model but for now it will work as my field work shop. Come on in if you'd like"

Petunia was a bit overwhelmed as she had not even asked for a description. Petunia could no longer see the luggage carrier so it appeared that that was also a part of this thing

"Umm… it's not all slimy and disgusting in there is it?" asked Petunia.

"Of course not, I haven't even started making anything in here yet now come on" Keni said eagerly.

Petunia hesitantly opened and crawled into the small opening. Torch followed her in as well. When they got into the shelter to where they could stand there was just enough room for the three of them to stand comfortably.

"Here we are you guys, howdya like it?" asked Keni.

Petunia found herself quite surprised by it. It had a bed on one side, a stove at the front with a refrigerator and freezer near it. In an indentation in the corner there was what appeared to be a toilet and a sink and a shower head above it. The last wall had a work bench with a few components scattered about it.

"Wow" said Torch "I'd have loved to have had this thing during the war."

"Really!" Keni said excited "cuz you know, I've been hoping that the military would take interest in my inventions, maybe I could help prevent some deaths with them."

Petunia continued to peer around the shelter when she noticed a photograph in a frame on a night stand.

"Who are these people?" asked Petunia.

In an instant Keni's eyes went from bright and excited to solemn and sorrowful. Keni stared into the photograph for a little while before she spoke.

"These are my friends… and family" she started "we all ended up separated during the flood… I don't know what happened to them" a tear began to form in her eye.

"the hippo is Ayb" she continued "the hamster is my sister Laurel, the rabbit is… well more than a friend. His name's Robby. And the little wolf… well that's my daughter, silver."

"Your daughter?" Petunia asked surprised.

"Well not really my daughter" said Keni "she was sort of an experiment, she has some of my DNA along with the rest of the group."

Tears began to well from her eyes.

"I just hope they were able to make it out okay" sobbed Keni.

Petunia put her arm around the poor Tiger who seemed to take some comfort from it.

"it's ok" consoled Petunia "I'm sure they made it out safe, I mean, you did didn't you."

Keni began to stop sobbing and nodded.

"But… if they did make it out" said Keni "Then why are they not here?"

Petunia couldn't know the answer. She could only try to contemplate one with nothing to work with, a fruitless task. She felt for her new friend and hoped that they were able to make it out of the flood safely.

"Hey Petunia… umm… are you in this… thing?" said a voice followed by a knock.

"Lex?" asked Petunia "yea, I'm in here, something you need?"

Alexis opened the door and peered inside. She was slightly distracted by what she seen in there until she remember what she came into the store room for.

"I think someone just rang your door bell, it'd be rude if I were to answer it" said Alexis.

"alright, I'm coming" said Petunia as she made her way out of the shelter.

She was followed by Keni and Torch as she made her way to the front door. When they arrived Petunia peered out of the peep hole but seen nobody there. Keni turned her attention to the television for a moment while Torch intended to see who it was.

"Ugh, this had better not be a prank" said Petunia as she opened the door.

Strait ahead, she could see nobody but on her floral welcome mat lied a small bundle, it appeared to be a young wolf. Petunia was shocked that she might have just been the victim of somebody not wanting their kid and stared at it. It was in a deep sleep and beside it's head was a letter which Petunia picked up. To her surprise it had the same goofy purple ink that was contained in the letters she and the others got for refugees. It read

Dear Petunia

Forgive me for the late arrival. I was not certain this one would make it. She is in your hands now, good luck.

This letter surprised Petunia. It certainly was nothing like she would have expected, but it had appeared that they had found another flood victim. It really was too confusing for the skunk. She picked up the little wolf who had been wrapped in a strangely comfortable purple blanket and carried her inside.

"Hey, that your kid?" Kurt asked obnoxiously.

Lisa didn't know what to say, this was just so sudden… yet somehow this wolf was familiar. Keni turned her head back to Petunia after returning her mind from the TV. In an instant her pupils shrank, she couldn't believe what she was seeing, or rather, who.

"Silver!" she said flabbergasted.

Petunia handed the little fox to Keni who stared at it speechless. Kurt turned his head away, he had no idea what was going on or what to think.

"Who's the kid?" asked Rose turning her head away from the TV.

"It's… Silver" Keni said, she still couldn't believe it.

"Silver huh, Petunia, looks like you have another mouth to feed" said Rose.

This instantly reminded her to check her food stocks, she had not recalled shopping recently an knew it would be bad news. As she passed the basement she could hear the sound of a guitar playing. Though it was muffled, she knew it was quite loud. Kurt turned his attention to the television for a moment as Petunia left the room.

Inside of her refrigerator there was little to choose from, just some leftovers, cold cuts and preserves as well as a few drinks, no chance she could feed everyone today, unless she divided up the meat well enough. She sighed and decided to head out to the store. When she returned to the living room everyone but Andy, who was in the basement, was in there. Keni was tearing with joy over Silvers return who was still asleep while Torch un wrapped the blanket and began to examine him for injuries.

Lisa was happy to see their reunion but now she had the matter of what everyone was going to eat on her mind. She headed for the front door and opened it to her yard. Her next stop was to get to her car. She had only been driving for a little while so she was a little nervous but as it was, her car wouldn't start. She let out a frustrated groan and got out to examine it. She had no experience with repairs and vehicles so she had no chance of diagnosing the problem. It was in that instant that she recalled that Reuger often worked as a mechanic and could likely fix this. She immediately entered the house and grabbed her phone. She then went back outside to her car and called Reuger's work phone. After a couple rings Reuger had finally picked up.

"Hello" he said.

"Hey Reuger, it's Petunia" she started "would you mind coming over, I need your help to fix-"

"what, you need me to fix something… umm… alright, here just fill me in when I get there" said Reuger cutting her off and hanging up the phone, he sounded flustered.

Petunia let out a frustrated sigh and decided to go inside until Reuger arrived. When she entered Kurt was not in the room and the guitar could still be heard. Everyone else seemed interested in the new arrival. Most of them were just surprised that she even survived, how did she even end up here. That aside she was there and according to Torch, completely un harmed. Keni naturally was ecstatic, but somewhat disappointed that the fox was still asleep, but she did not want to wake her.

"So this is your daughter?" asked Rose, somewhat confused.

"Well, not really, it's a long story" said Keni.

"can I hold her Keni, can I" begged Bubble.

Keni though for a moment, she did not want to let her go again, but she was no longer in danger. She wouldn't allow herself to be paranoid and hesitantly handed her over with a smile. Bubble smiled wide holding the sleeping toddler in his arms. Her silver fur was cottony soft.

"Hey, can I hold her again?" asked Petunia.

Keni was kind of thrown off by this, it somewhat felt to her like everyone though she was doll and not a living creature. She knew that they were just excited though.

"umm… ok I guess… just don't wake her" said Keni

Bubble handed her over to Petunia who also looked happy to hold her, it was like one of her dolls except warm… and alive.

"H-hey, do I get a turn" asked Alexis.

"yes guys, I'm sure the kid just loves being used as hot potato" said Rose "why dontchya pass her to me next."

Petunia heard footsteps from behind and looked to see Kurt passing by with a thick sandwich in his hand and taking a bite. Petunia quickly handed Silver back to Keni to confront Kurt

"What do you think you're doing Kurt!" shouted Petunia.

"Huh, what, I did something?" Kurt asked confused.

"That sandwich is huge Kurt that's all I had, not to mention your covering the floor with crumbs."

Kurt looked at his feet to see a couple of crumbs.

"Hey, I was hungry after we brought the chair down to the basement, besides you didn't even have much meat left, I just finished what was there" said Kurt trying to calm the situation.

Petunia looked to where her chair once was to see that it had disappeared and the small dust layer that had accumulated under it.

"You can't be serious, I told you to take the chair in the storage. And about the cold cuts don't tell me there wasn't much left, you've got enough there for five good sized sandwiches, probably even enough to have fed us all" shouted Petunia who was breathing heavily.

Kurt looked at his sandwich then back at Petunia.

"Hey, sorry Petunia" Kurt said while backing up anxiously "I didn't mean to-"

He was cut off by the sound of falling shelves and ornaments. He turned his head to see that he had accidentally knocked over one of Petunias displays with his quills. He turned his head back to Petunia who stared in horror at the sight. Petunia entered a rage that would have escalated further had Petunia not heard the sound of something spray. She immediately gasped and slowly turned her head to see a small puddle of amber liquid on the floor behind her. Her face immediately turned bright red and tears began to form in her eyes.

"Kurt, now look what you made me do!" Petunia shouted angry and upset.

The group around the couch seen this and immediately shot up and bolted for the front door to avoid the effects. Right as they ran out Reuger arrived only to receive a door to the face and be sent reeling off of the porch while everyone clamored over him. Kurt however couldn't make it to the door and intended to retreat to the kitchen but he felt awful just leaving Petunia like this. He slowly backed up out of the range of the fumes.

"damnit Kurt, get back in here, you're cleaning this up!" said Petunia, her furious shouts quickly degrading into heavy sobs.

Moments after she spoke she fell to her kneed crying. The stress was just too much too fast. After a few moments she slowly rose to her feet and walked slowly into the kitchen past Kurt who for once, felt like an ass. She slowly gathered her cleaning supplies and rubber gloves, whimpering and sobbing all the while and sauntered back towards the living room.

"Umm… what just happened?" asked Reuger rubbing his head.

"Petunia just let loose all over the floor in there" said Rose.

"Jeez, I wish I could get in there to help her out" said Alexis "I just feel so bad for her."

Reuger turned his head to the house to see Petunia kneel down on her hands and knees and spray a spot on the floor then wipe it up with a rag. She still seemed to be sobbing. Reuger hated to see anyone like this so he entered.

"Need some help Petunia?" Reuger asked.

She raised her head, her eyes puffy from the tears. She said nothing but pointed to the shelf that Kurt had knocked over with a pleading finger. Reuger read this and began to pick up everything that was knocked over. Petunia began to scrub the sprayed spot hard with a brush. It took a few minutes but Reuger finally finished returning everything to the shelf. Petunia brought the vacuum out of the closet and began to vacuum the floor. By now the fumes had been cleared and the others were able to enter. The smell however was still very strong leading them to try to stay back or plug their noses. Petunia was still horribly embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it too much Petunia, I did the same thing today" said Reuger "fortunately for you only sprayed a little and everyone was able to escape. My case was… quite the opposite."

Petunia usually found the topic of spraying to be awkward, she would usually do her best to avoid it.

"Don't they make something to clear up this smell?" asked Rose.

Petunia blushed again and tried to remember where she put the incense. After thoroughly vacuuming the floor Petunia began to search for the incense. It was no where in the house but se always had an extra in her car which she hurried to get. Everyone but Kurt and Andy were outside. Petunia opened the glove box of her car and retrieved the incense. She then returned inside and lit it. She couldn't think of anything to say as the others poured back into the house.

"Is it breathable in here again?" asked Rose looking around the room.

"Sorry Petunia, I wanted to help, but well… you know" said Alexis looking upset.

Petunia managed to crack a smile for her friend.

"It's alright" said Petunia "I know you weren't able to help, it wasn't your fault."

Alexis looked a little better after that though she still regretted not being able to help. Petunia then turned her attention to Kurt who she had last seen in the kitchen and went there. To her surprise, when she entered the room Kurt had a spread of bread laid before him and had made numerous sandwiches.

"Kurt?" said Petunia surprised.

Kurt turned his head to her.

"Hey pets" she said, lively as ever.

"What, you going to use all of my bread now too?" asked Petunia.

"Ouch girl, that hurts, why always the negative assumptions with me" he said "you didn't think that I'd be doing something to help out?"

"Help out, did you even cut off the parts you bit out of?" Petunia asked.

Kurt was silent for a moment.

"Damn Pets, you're break'n my balls here" said Kurt as he removed the tops of the sandwiches and cut off the parts he bit.

Petunia couldn't help but smile at his care free attitude.

"What, you piss her off" said Andy as he entered the room.

"Hey Andy, bring up that chair would ya" asked Kurt.

"Aha, so it did piss her off" said Andy "I told you not to take it."

"That's why I'm asking you to bring it back" said Kurt.

"Here Kurt how about you do it, seeing as how it was you're brilliant idea "She won't care" said Andy quoting Kurt.

"Kinda busy here" replied Kurt.

"Then do it after, here, how about I speed it up" said Andy going to help Kurt.

Petunia left the room to return to the living room.

"Oh yes Petunia" said Reuger getting her attention "you needed me to fix something?"

"Oh yes, I completely forgot" said Petunia "I need you to take a look at my car, it just won't start."

"Alright then, come out with me" said Reuger to both Petunia and Torch who he had been conversing with before Petunia entered the living room.

The three exited the house and moved to the car. Torch limped slowly behind but caught up to them. Reuger asked Petunia to get into the car as he opened the hood. When attempted to start it up and Reuger quickly found the problem. He told her to stop and get out so he could work.

"Need any help Reuger?" asked Torch.

"Not right now Torch, I'll call you if I need you" said Reuger.

"Alright" said Torch.

Torch sat down on a bench followed shortly by Petunia.

"Feels good to finally sit" said Torch.

"What, you haven't sat?" asked Petunia starting to feel bad.

"Not much, it's not your fault, it's all me, I just didn't want to ruin any of your furniture" said Torch.

"oh yea, that's right" said Petunia feeling bad, remembering that she does not have anything quill proof "oh jeez, where are you gonna sleep then?"

"just let me worry about that" said torch.

Petunia figured that she should and decided to change the topic.

"So, you seem to know Reuger well" said Petunia.

"of course, he was my commanding officer during the war" said Torch.

Upon hearing this Reuger stopped his work for a moment, then simply continued.

"I wouldn't have had it any other way neither" said Torch.

Petunia could hear something personal in this and Reuger seemed to be speeding up his work. Petunia looked at his peg leg.

"did you lose it in the war" she asked.

"Yep, long story… I'd prefer to have kept it how it was though, without this stick propping me up" Torch said.

"Then why do you have it?" asked Petunia.

"Because" Torch started "my little sister was all over me about getting it, she was afraid I'd have more accidents without it. One night when we talked over the phone I finally gave in and had this hunk of wood fixed to me. Tsk, Flaky was so excited when she found out, I hope to see her at least once during my stay here."

"Oh yea, Flaky's your sister, now that you mention it I do remember seeing you on occasion" said Petunia.

"Yea? Yea I'd usually only come to town to check on Flaky, the smile on her face when she sees me beings a joy I don't find much these days" said Torch "gotta say, I kind of like being back here… even if the circumstances are less than desirable.

"Hey Torch, I may need a hand with this now, sorry, Lumpy and Handy left me high and dry before I came here" said Reuger.

"Come'n Reuger, I don't mind helping" assured Torch.

With that Petunia decided to make her way inside. When she entered the living room Bubble was just finishing his sandwich That Kurt and Andy distributed. To Petunias delight her chair was back in place and Kurt and Andy were trying to bring down an old black couch to the basement.

"Ahh damnit Andy, you crushed my hand!" shouted Kurt trying to get the couch through the door.

"Hey that's why I told you to move it" said Andy who was on the stairs to the basement.

"Alright, Get ready Andy, I'm gonna shoulder plow this thing down there" said Kurt.

"Sure, I've got it, it's on your head if I die" said Andy.

Petunia stared in horror as Kurt charged into the couch and managed to get it through the door. She heard banging from the stairs and rushed over to check on Andy.

"You still alive down there Andy?" asked Kurt.

"Fine" Andy replied "now get down here and help me move this."

Kurt moved down the stairs and assisted Andy. Petunia breathed a sigh of relief and turned to her guests, she noticed that it was starting to get late.

"So have you guys found out where you're going to stay" asked Petunia.

"Hope you don't mind if I stay on that lounge chair on your patio" said Rose.

"I'm going to stay in the living room if you don't mind?" asked Alexis.

"not at all you two, what about you Bubble?" Petunia asked.

"Well… I guess I haven't decided yet" said Bubble.

"you know there's an extra bedroom up stairs if you want to stay in there" suggested Petunia.

"Really, cool, thanks Petunia" said Bubble happily as he shot up to go check out his room.

"Well, looks like I might as well get set, see ya Petunia" said Rose as she took off to the patio. Petunia was curious as to why she chose that location but didn't care to question her.

Petunia soon realized how tired she was just as Reuger and Torch re entered the house.

"Car's fixed, just had to replace a few simple parts, I may need to replace one soon though but I'll worry about that, you take care for now" said Reuger.

"Wait, don't I have to pay you?" Petunia asked.

"just go ahead and do it later, when your car is completely fixed" Said Reuger as he waved goodbye and left the house.

"So Torch, know where you're going to sleep yet?" asked Petunia.

Torch thought to himself. He knew that he had brought at least one quill proof blanket with him but had no bedding.

"Hang on a second Torch, maybe Kurt has something you can use" said Petunia as she hurried down to the basement.

"Hey Kurt, you don't happen to have anything that Torch can use for bedding do you?" Petunia asked.

Kurt lined up a knife to a picture on the wall and threw it at it.

"Yea, I think so Pets, hold on" he said opening a duffle bag.

From it he extracted a quill proof sleeping bag.

"That aught to do it" Kurt said tossing it to her.

"Thanks Kurt" said Petunia as she ascended the stairs.

"You know, you've been awfully sweet on her today Kurt" said Andy.

"Yea, what of it" Kurt started "I felt like an ass after making her spray and wrecking her house, I figured I'd owe her something. I know what you're implying Andy and I can tell ya, Pets aint my type."

Kurt then pulled out a magazine from his bag and let out a dirty laugh.

"Now these girls are my type" Kurt said "well… except for this one, gross, here Andy stick this to the wall."

Kurt ripped out a page from the magazine and handed it to Andy.

"Your such a freak Kurt" said Andy with a grin.

Back up stairs Petunia had decided to call Giggles and tell her about the day. As one may expect with them it lasted longer than both had anticipated. When the call ended Petunia decided to see how Keni and the kid were doing. When she entered Keni was outside of her igloo thing rifling through boxes.

"What ere you doing?" asked Petunia.

"Hey Petunia, just looking for junk I can use" Keni replied.

"well alright" Petunia said " but just check with me before using anything, by the way, how's Silver doing?"

"She's good" Keni replied "still out cold though, I have her all snug in my bed, I'll be able to sleep a little easier with her there."

"well I'm glad she made it out ok" said Petunia "and if she did, the rest of your family may have too."

Keni slowed down her rummaging for a bit but kept going.

"Well, we can only wait and see" said Keni hopefully. She still seemed to be thinking about something.

"Well I'll let you go" said Petunia leaving the room going to check on Bubble.

"Ok, see you Petunia" Keni said.

Petunia left the room and ascended the stairs to the small bedroom where Bubble was to be staying.

"You got everything you need in here bubble?" asked Petunia.

Bubble was already wrapped in blankets but turned his exposed head to see her.

"Yep, I've got what I need, thanks Petunia" said the dog "listen sorry I couldn't keep my promise to help you, but to make it up to you, I'm gong to cook everyone breakfast in the morning."

"Well I'd love that Bubble but I need to go shopping, there isn't anything left to eat" Petunia told him.

Bubble looked somewhat disappointed.

"Well how about I go shopping with you, I can help you pick out all kinds of good things" Bubble said.

"Ok, tomorrow you and I will go shopping" said Petunia leaving the room.

"Goodnight Petunia" said Bubble.

"Night Bubble" replied Petunia as she finally returned to her room and went to bed.

Not all was quiet tonight though as Alexis awoke to get a glass of water and noticed Rose out on the patio. From what Alexis could see she was dangling something just above her nose on a chain. she could also make out what could be described as talking. She opened the sliding glass door and wandered out onto the patio. Just as she exited she made out the words "someday" from Rose's voice just before she heard Alexis coming. Rose immediately gasped and stuffed the pendant she was looking at down her shirt.

"Alexis" she gasped, seeing the wolf approach her.

"Who were you talking to out here?" Alexis asked.

"No one" responded Rose quickly.

"Can I see your necklace?" asked Alexis.

"Wha- what necklace" said Rose.

"The one you were looking at when I came out" Alexis said.

"Umm, no it's… personal" said Rose, her tone quieting.

"you sure you don't want to tell me?" asked Alexis.

Rose was quiet for a moment until she and Alexis peered off into the distance. It was difficult to tell but the could swear there was something out there. It looked like a large, humanoid figure. In it's hand looked like a tree friend. The girls stared speechless at it as it stopped in it's tracks. Though they could not tell what it looked like they could see its eyes clearly as it turned its head to them. Its eyes glowed with white light. The girls stared in horror at this creature when they were able to make out a row of white teeth with some sort of obstruction in front of them. The creature was grinning at them. Rose screamed and shot out of her chair. Alexis pulled her dog tags out from her shirt, prepared for anything. the creature however did nothing but look forward and sling a large object over it's shoulder as it lumbered off into the night.

[that's it for chapter 6, let me know what you think. You may have noticed I added another OC, I do not add them for the sake of adding them, if I can find a part where adding them works then I will (probably not at the end of course). Anyways, I think I'm gonna do a poll on who you thought had the worst time with their refugees, just for entertainment purposes. Also, I may not have a schedule but I do try to add a new chapter every 2 to 3 days. Happy new year all.]


	7. Gone Shopping Need Marshmallows

[I'm back all and am here to deliver unto you yet another chapter, any ideas what's going on yet. If not read on, if so read on… you know what, just read there's more to know. also that poll i mentioned last chapter is up... my primitive brain failed to make me click on the right thing before, check it out if you would.]

Petunia awoke to a bright sun shining on her face. She turned to her alarm clock to read 11:30. She slowly dragged herself out of bed to perform her morning routine which was first to brush her fur which was made a mess in her sleep. She descended the stairs to the hall making her way to the living room then to the bathroom. Alexis was watching television.

"Morning Petunia" said Alexis.

"Morning Lex" said Petunia, still half asleep.

Petunia entered her bathroom and then the shower. From there she dried, applied her lotions, sprayed on her perfume, and picked out her air freshener for the day, today's choice was melon, she didn't feel like pine today. Afterwards she needed to pay a visit to her flowers in the back. Rose was out there arranging her belongings. She seemed concerned. Petunia continued to a small patch of flowers, all of the same type. She carefully picked the flower off of one and placed it onto her head.

"Morning Rose" said Petunia.

"Morning Petunia" said Rose, she sounded tired.

"You get enough sleep?" asked Petunia concerned.

Rose was silent. The images of that creature she had seen last night left her uneasy. She never did see that creature again though.

"Rose?" Petunia said, seeing if she was paying attention.

"Oh yea, no just a little insomnia" Rose said.

"Ok… you wanna go shopping with me?" asked Petunia.

Rose thought for a moment but really didn't feel like going.

"Nah, go on ahead without me, just make sure to bring back something good" said Rose.

Petunia continued on into the house. She figured she'd see if anybody else wanted to go shopping with her, as it happened Bubble had just made his way down the stairs.

"We gonna go shopping Petunia?" he asked.

"in a bit, I'm just going to see who else wants to come" said Petunia.

"Hey, Alexis, you wanna come?" Petunia asked.

"Alexis peered over the couch" sure, just hang on a moment, I've gotta take my meds first" she said as she rifled through her bag.

Petunia turned to the basement and descended the stairs, she didn't think Kurt or Andy would want to come but checked anyway. When she arrived in the room Kurt was nowhere to be found.

"Hey Andy, where'd Kurt go?" Petunia asked.

"No idea, think he went into town" replied Andy.

"Oh, alright then, you wanna go shopping then?" asked Petunia.

"Nah, sorry, I've been trying to work on a riff, don't wanna kill my buzz" Andy told Petunia.

"Alright" said Petunia when she noticed the magazine Kurt had perused.

"What is that!" Petunia said shocked.

Andy started laughing hysterically.

"Don't worry Pets, it's not what you think" said Andy.

"What, whose is this" said Petunia still shocked.

"Kurt's" said Andy, laughing again "I wouldn't pay it too much mind. That magazine's over four years old and it's the only one he's got. I don't even think there's even any profanity in it. Just a magazine full of attractive women. No, he just looks at it whenever he's trying to convince me and himself that he's not interested in a particular girl. Especially when I can see that he is, he hates when I'm right… witch is just about all the time. I love how he doesn't think I know his methods."

Petunia stared at Andy. this was definitely confusing, she decided to leave it well enough alone and continue with her business. She returned up stairs to see Keni and Torch in the living room. Keni was holding silver who had finally woken up from his deep sleep. She looked even happier now than before.

"Petunia look!" shouted Keni excitedly "Silver woke up!"

Petunia smiled joyously at this and smiled as the little wolf looked at her quickly turning his face back against Keni's chest out of shyness.

"Keni, do you and Silver wanna go shopping?" Petunia asked.

"Sure, I've gotta get food for silver anyway" said Keni "how about it, you wanna go to the store silver?"

The wolf looked at her and she smiled.

"Well… I don't think I have any booster seats" said Petunia.

"yea, I didn't think you would, so I whipped one together last night just for this occurrence" said Keni happily.

Keni took off to the store room with Silver in her arms.

"How about you Torch?" Petunia asked.

"Nah, I'm good here, just make sure to get some eggs, I think I'm in the mood for an omelet" said Torch.

"Ok then" said Petunia.

At that she had everyone who was going to go coming so she headed out to her car to wait.

Just a ways down the road Lisa was doing the same, her entourage consisted of Glitter, Araya, and Ansom. The others simply offered her requests of what they wanted.

A ways down the road from there Remmie, Chunky, and Flaky were also going shopping, however, unlike the others, Remmie didn't have a car, instead he had bikes for each of his friends which they rode.

Separately the three pulled out and made their way to the store.

"Hey Remmie!" said an all too familiar and unpleasant voice.

From behind Tiny approached on his skateboard. Remmie kept his eyes forward, not wanting to acknowledge him but he rode up right beside him.

"Hey Remmie, heard you were going shopping" he said.

"Yep" said Remmie in monotone.

"Awesome, hope you don't mind if I join you, I'm out of my whisky" Tiny said.

Remmie said nothing and continued to ride. A minute or so later they heard a car pull up beside them, when they looked, it was being driven by Lisa.

"Hey, you guys want a ride?" Lisa asked.

The group looked at one another feeling somewhat dumb that they were on bikes and Lisa was driving a car.

"I guess" replied Remmie "could you drop us off at the grocery store?"

"Of course, that's where we're going too?" said Lisa, somewhat surprised.

Lisa stopped the car as the three dismounted their bikes. Tiny however stayed with his skateboard. Lisa opened the trunk. There might be just enough space to shove the bikes in but the trunk wouldn't be able to close. As it happened Lisa had a length of rope in the trunk among a few other things which they used to secure their bikes. In the car however there was only room enough for five people. The back seat was full but the front was empty aside from Lisa. Now came the need to plan.

Araya agreed to sit on Ansom's lap in the middle. Remmie and Flaky would have a difficult time however as Lisa's seats were not quill proof. Remmie sat behind Lisa but held on to the back of her seat so his spikes wouldn't stab into his. Flaky's quills were longer and more flexible so she was able to lean against hers in the front so long as her quills were turned away. This of course left Chunky on the right, behind Flaky. He also had no choice as the only one who glitter could sit on. It was horribly awkward for the both of them to say the least.

"Umm… are you coming Tiny?" Flaky asked.

"Hell yea" said the hamster "But I'm sketching this thing all the way."

Remmie suddenly felt good… maybe he'd fall off. He doubted that with his luck though.

"Ok then…" said Lisa as she began to ride off.

A short distance away Cuddles noticed Tiny, as it happened he was also riding his skate board. This drove Cuddles to extreme mode and when the chance arose he also grabbed onto Lisa's car.

"Damnit, if anyone else grabbed onto my car today I'm backing them all into a tree!" exclaimed Lisa annoyed.

At that moment she noticed something ahead, it looked severe. When she approached out of curiosity she slammed on her breaks causing the sketching duo to slam into the back of her car and their skateboards to roll out from the front of the car. It was truly a horrible scene, a fire truck sitting in the street in front of a large pile of char coal.

"Are you serious, whose house was this?" Lisa asked.

Chunky struggled to look past Glitter.

"Umm… wait, I think this was Alexis's house" said Chunky.

Naturally this was not the first time they seen a burned down house but with all the calm lately this was a stirring sign.

"Oh no, I hope she wasn't in there" said Lisa worried.

The group decided to climb out of the car to ask about what happened. This temporary break was a relief for Chunky and Glitter. On the scene was Lumpy, Handy, Reuger, And surprisingly Flippy. Lisa was the first to ask.

"Hey Handy, do you know what happened here" Lisa asked.

"Well a house burnt down, anything more than that is beyond me" Handy told her "by the time we got here the house was down and the fire completely out. Strangest thing though."

Handy pointed his nub over to a large pile of objects stacked neatly on the lawn, it was all un-damaged.

"All that stuff was already outside when we got here" he said.

Lisa looked confused and wandered over to the pile. There was a lot of it, it seemed to have been down to every last pencil in the house. Lisa returned to the remains of the house. It seemed to have been a near perfect burn. She was no sleuth but she tried to locate the cause of the blaze. To her surprise she noticed no glowing coals in the debris, maybe they hit it with the hose?" the only thing she could find was a candy cane laying in the grass. This threw her off for a moment, discovery perhaps. She grabbed the candy and returned to the group who was gathered around asking about the fire.

"Why'd the house burn big brother?" Araya asked to Ansom who could not respond.

"Lisa" said Flaky "I just talked to Lumpy, he said that they didn't find anyone in the wreckage."

Lisa breathed relieved but despite what had occurred here she still needed to get food for everyone. She loaded everyone back into the car and made her way to the store… what she didn't realize was that Tiny and Cuddles were lying out cold on the road behind them.

Finally they made it to their destination. As it was Petunia had already arrived and her car was in the parking lot. Lisa parked next to her and they un loaded, again, to the relief of Chunky and Glitter who had been having a hard time not smothering Chunky with his tail. The group entered the store and went their separate ways. Remmie stuck with Lisa, Chunky and Flaky while Glitter, Araya, and Ansom went their own way. Soon after their arrival Lisa's group ran into Petunia, Bubble, Alexis, Giggles who must have been picked up on the way, and Keni carrying Silver. At that moment the mood changed again, the group remembered Alexis's house and had to let her know.

"Alexis" said Lisa with a doomed expression on her face. She seemed to be in a good mood, Lisa didn't want to ruin it but she had to know.

"Yea Lisa" said Alexis.

"Umm… you didn't happen to see your house yet have you?" Lisa asked

"Not since I left, I was planning on stopping back there today, why, what's the matter?" Alexis asked.

"Alexis… someone burned it down" Lisa told her.

Alexis looked at the floor, she was clearly upset but not as distraught as one might expect, then again. It's not the first time this happened.

"So, did it burn everything" Alexis said, no longer cheerful.

Petunia and Giggles grew concerned for her.

"Well… no, it looked like all of your stuff had been moved outside" assure Lisa.

Alexis's mood seemed to lift somewhat, she may need a new house but at least all of her stuff was spared.

"Well this is kind of a problem, where do I go now, where will I put all of my things" said Alexis.

"Well you don't have to worry abut a place to stay" said Petunia "You can stay at my house as long as you need. As for your stuff you could probably get it stored, we can make it work."

Alexis forced a smile. It wasn't fair for her to feel bad about her own house when she was present for the flood that destroyed so many others.

"C'mon Alexis, I'll get you whatever you want" said Petunia doing the best she could in this situation.

Alexis tried to perk up so she wouldn't bring everyone else down with her and continued on her way with Petunia and Bubble. Keni however was off to find food for Silver.

"Who's the kid" Remmie asked curiously, he didn't remember seeing this kid at the train station.

"Oh, this is Silver" said Keni "I'm here to get him food.

"Is she with you" asked Chunky " don't remember seeing her on the train."

"No she wasn't" Keni replied " she was just sort of delivered to me."

Everyone in the conversation felt somewhat confused. This little wolf was just dropped off?

"Was she in the flood too?" asked Lisa.

"Yea, I don't know what happened to her, we were split off at some point during it, then she just appeared on Petunia's doorstep" Keni told them.

"Well, I'm glad you were able to get her back" said Lisa.

Keni looked down at the wolf and smiled.

"Well, we should probably go our own ways, I need to get little Silver here some food, take care" said Keni as she took off.

Elsewhere in the store Glitter had a sudden recollection.

"Umm… Ansom" said Glitter.

Ansom gave him a blank glare letting Glitter know he was listening.

"Umm… I was just thinking umm, wasn't that burned house kind of familiar. Didn't another one burn down like that in Birch Tree Town?" Glitter asked.

Ansom thought to himself for a moment before recalling that situation. He recalled that it was mostly unused except for the occasional times when he seen some cat leaving it. Ansom nodded to Glitter letting him know that he remembered.

"You umm… don't think the same person who burned down that house did both of them do you?" Glitter asked nervously.

Ansom could not answer that, the investigators of the other burning ruled it as electrical troubles. The major difference was that there wasn't a pile of belongings left out on the lawn. With such a lack of clues the investigators could not investigate any further. Neither could Ansom so he chose not to allow it to bother him.

"Don't know Glitter" he said, hoping to bring some sort of answer to the Fox.

Glitter said nothing else as he picked out his things.

Remmie and Chunky were all over the place, they had made a huge mistake and gone in hungry, they felt like they were going to starve. Flaky was much less salvage however and was carefully picking out what she wanted. She may not have planned to stay with them but she figured she'd get a few things for home.

"I want this Petunia… oooh, let's get this too, and some of these" said Bubble excitedly grabbing things off of the shelves and tossing them into Petunias cart.

"Easy Bubble" said Petunia "We're not just getting cookies, we need to get something for breakfast… well brunch now."

"Oooh, sausage and bacon. Let's see… French toast or pancakes oooh can we have both, I wanna make the pancakes, you should make French toast" said Bubble.

"Sounds good Bubble" said Petunia tolerating his obnoxiousness.

Bubble loaded the things into the cart and they moved on their way.

The rest of the shopping trip was pretty much like that, Ansom's group silent except for a few requests from Araya. Remmie and Chunky running around wild gathering everything that looked edible. Lisa casually gathered her stuff with Flaky and each group made their way to the register. As it was Remmie and Chunky had purchased the most, almost costing Remmie all of his prize money from the dance. Petunia's costs were the second highest somewhat thanks to Bubble throwing in whatever he felt like. Lisa's was the easiest thanks to her generally mellow group. With purchases in hand they loaded them into their respective vehicles. Petunia was off to inspect the damaged to Alexis's house while Lisa's car was over loaded with people and cargo. With great effort they managed to work out the situation and cram into her car. Chunky however seemed to be growing uneasy and not because Glitter was on his lap again.

"Hey Lisa, do you think we could stop at my house for a minute, I just want to pick a few things up" said Chunky

"you know Chunky, I don't think we've got enough room for a few things" Lisa said.

"Oh, it won't be a problem, I'll be quick about it, it's nothing big" chunky pleaded.

Lisa let out a frustrated breath and turned the street to his house. When they arrived however they were met with another shock as it had met the same fate of Alexis's house. Chunky had a doomed expression on his face as Lisa stopped and he squeezed his way out of the car. Everyone unloaded from the car despite the difficulty and stared at the pile of charcoal that used to be Chunky's house. The scene was exactly the same as Alexis's as well as it also had all of Chunky's belongings in a large, neat pile outside.

"You can't be serious" said Lisa "again?"

Chunky was speechless as he stared, his house was burned too? He looked around, trying to find some sort of cause but it had completely burned, only this time the fire department hadn't even arrived. He noticed his Pile of belongings and felt somewhat better that they had been spared. On the ground he found a large swirly lollypop.

"Hey Lisa, didn't you find candy at the other fire?" Chunky asked.

"Huh, yea I did, why?" asked Lisa.

"Because I found a piece too" said Chunky.

He knew that both of them were thinking the same thing, but it couldn't have been him, could it. This made Chunky curious but before he could say anything a large truck pulled up in front of his house. From it stepped Pop and even Splendid. Though he was in disguise. Splendid moved over to the pile of belongings and effortlessly lifted much of it.

"Umm… what's going on?" asked Chunky.

"We've been commissioned to store all this stuff for you" said Pop.

"But… I never called anyone to do that" replied Chunky confused.

"Well someone did, we've been at this all day, four burnings" Pop told Chunky.

Chunky was again silent, it was like some kind of cereal arson.

"Umm… Pop" Remmie started "Who else's house burned down."

"Well one belonged to a doctor who would drop by on occasion and another to a biologist, I think her name was Twitchy Pop told them.

Suddenly Remmie was struck with a terrible revelation.

"Really, looks like whoever' doing this is targeting the refugees" he said to the group.

Remmie's as well as everyone else's heads now swam with questions.

"Pop, is there any chance you happened to find a piece of candy at any of the scenes?" Lisa asked.

"Yea, a couple actually… I figured I'd eat em later so I took them" he said.

"At each scene?" Lisa asked making sure.

"Yep" Pop Replied.

Lisa thought to herself for a moment. This was starting to really bother her. She even figured that she'd cancel the dance lessons she was giving today. She wanted to figure this out.

"Alright group, I want you all to meet up at my house after we get unloaded, we just need to contact Petunia" Lisa ordered, she was hell bent on figuring this out.

Meanwhile Chunky gathered what he was after… video games and junk food, and they re entered the cramped vehicle. First stop was Remmie's house. When they un loaded Lisa left to her own house and Remmie alerted everyone to the plan, then came the painful task of breaking the news to Twitchy. When everyone began the trek to Lisa's house Remmie held Twitchy back to tell her.

"Twitchy, I need to tell you something" started Remmie "yours was one of the houses that was burned."

Twitchy teared a little and bit her lower lip, this may not have been her only house but she felt victimized.

"But don't worry too much ok, all of your stuff has been spared and stored"

Twitchy nodded, she hated being a victim but she figured that's why there meeting at Lisa's house.

"Drag it you three" said Midnight to Remmie, Twitchy, and Chunky who stayed to help support Twitchy.

The three obliged and led the way. After the walk to Lisa's house everyone sat in a large circle scattered in the room. It appeared that everyone was there, even Tiny made it. There were even a few others who were supposed to be there for dance lessons like Lumpy and Toothy.

"Hey Tiny, have you seen Cuddles?" Lisa asked.

"Not since I woke up in the road" replied Tiny.

"Toothy?" Lisa asked.

"I actually haven't seen him all day" Toothy told her.

"Well, looks like we'll just get started without him" said Lisa "Now then, what we have so far. There have been four burnings and the cause is still a mystery. They seem to have targeted all of the refugees that have a house here. We have also discovered candy at all of the scenes. We are definitely dealing with a cereal arsonist here. First off we need a motive."

Everyone was silently in thought.

"Well we can probably rule out that it was just a random burning" said Lilith "if I were to just burn stuff down I wouldn't travel all over town to specific houses, I'd probably just torch a block.

Everyone stared at her.

"Well then looks like we've got a suspect for psychosis" said Dubble.

"Well she is right" said Twitchy "these burnings definitely had to have been targeted at us, didn't you say all of our stuff was spared."

Twitchy kept noticing Thunder giving an evil look to her.

"Yea, but that really shoots a hole in just about any kind of motive" said Remmie "why would someone spare your stuff if they had intended to burn your house"

"Maybe we're dealing with a particularly kind arsonist who cares about those they burn" said Rose sarcastically.

"What gets me is how it burned" started Kurt "if what I heard was correct the entire house burned completely to the ground and it was almost instant, too fast for the fire department to even get their in time. Not to mention as you said there were no hot coals, ha, I've seen buildings burn and smolder for days after they went down, no chance the coals would be cooled off so fast. Another thing, houses don't burn so perfectly like you described, if it were an ordinary fire there would likely be at least a little foundation left standing, but it was all on the ground."

"So, what exactly are you suggesting Kurt?" asked Lilith.

"I'm saying that either we're dealing with an impossibly professional arsonist, or someone who was able to make some kind of weapon that could do this."

Rose glanced at Keni who picked up on it.

"Don't look at me, I haven't even developed a prototype for that kind of weapon" said Keni.

"Forget motive for now" said Remmie "let's just keep going over what we know ,we found candy at the scenes right, who likes candy, has some sort of grudge against the refugees and would make a good arsonist."

everyone was silent again.

"Flippy?" said Rose

"Nah, I don't think so" started Torch "even with his condition I doubt he'd target houses, though he seems like the kind of guy who would remove everything from the house before burning it. I seriously doubt he is responsible."

"Well there's Nutty" Toothy suggested.

"Well he is a bit crazy… but I don't think he's ever committed arson before" said Flaky.

"Yea, but we all know he's completely unpredictable, why wouldn't he" said Rose

"Look, I'd love to place the blame on someone and get this over with too but I don't think it was Nutty, too calculated" Said Dubble "I think I'd sooner blame the moose."

"Oh no, I didn't do it" said Lumpy.

"We know Lumpy" Said most of the group simultaneously.

"Well there was that incident in Birch Tree Town, we had a fire almost of the same type as this" said Ansom.

"Is that to say one of us refugees did it then" said Dubble intrigued.

"Maybe it was our own Psycho who did it" said Rose looking at Twitch.

Everyone's eyes followed. Twitch grinned.

"Heh heh, I'd bet you'd love to place the blame on me, too bad, I didn't do this one, why don't you ask our pretty little squirrel friend here, she's the one all into that kind of crap, plus I've seen her eat plenty of candy, perhaps her calling card huh, maybe we're next" Said twitch enjoying every word he spoke.

"Yea, exactly what I'm thinking" said Thunder who was on edge the entire time.

"What, you think I did it!" shouted Twitchy frantically "Fire doesn't even have anything to do with Biology, I couldn't do that."

Thunder was angry, someone had burned down Alexis's house, he needed to get vengeance somehow so he'd blame anyone. He stood up and stood over Twitchy. Remmie and Chunky jumped up and hurried over to her.

"Calm it Thunder, you know as well as the rest of us that she had nothing to do with it" said Remmie firmly.

"Thunder stop, she didn't have anything to do with it" said Alexis shooting up from her seat.

This time Thunder listened and let his rage subside. He knew he was wrong about Twitchy but Alexis meant everything to him.

"They're burning down the houses of the people who were in the flood but lived in or at least had a place in this town" started Andy "if I'm right then whoever's burning down these houses is trying to keep us all in one place."

Everyone was surprised at this revelation and decided to run with it.

"Assuming you're right, then why the hell would they want to?" asked Midnight.

"you guys don't think they want to burn us all in one place… do you?" asked Glitter nervously.

Everyone considered this possibility.

"To some extent that makes sense but we've definitely found ourselves a giant hole" Dubble started "if they wanted to burn us all at once then we wouldn't still have three separate houses, also if they had wanted that then why go through the effort of moving all of our stuff outside, not to mention that someone also called to have everything stored. I still can't figure out the issue with the candy, for now I don't think we can figure everything out."

"Well actually I was working at the storage before I went to Alexis's house in the fire truck and I got a call" started Lumpy "I didn't get a name but it sounded like a boy."

"Well that successfully cuts down the list of suspects to half the world" said Midnight.

Everyone was silent yet again, this time nobody could come up with anything to say. Despite things seeming to come together they still had many unexplained occurrences.

"So is that it then?" asked Chunky, he had looked forward to solving the case.

"For now it looks like it" said Dubble.

Suddenly Glitters stomach growled which embarrassed him and reminded everyone how they had not eaten yet.

"You know, I think we should all get going" said Remmie "I know that we haven't eaten at my house yet."

"Yea, neither have we" said Petunia.

"You know what, lets all just make something here to eat" said Lisa.

"Oooh yay, I wanna help" said Bubble who had been waiting for the depressing conversation to end.

"Obnoxious as ever I see" Dubble said.

"Giggles and I can help" said Petunia.

"Oooh can Araya help" Said Araya excitedly.

"Of course" said Lisa.

Twisty looked at Trippy in a way that told her that she wanted to help too.

"Umm… Lisa, you don't mind if Twisty and I help too do you" Trippy asked.

"Nope, come on" Lisa said leading her volunteers to the kitchen.

The rest of the night was spent with small talk. Thorn still kept her distance from Rose. Torch talked with his sister who he hadn't had a chance to do since he arrived. Thunder was still mulling over what could have happened, he was still restless over Alexis's house burning down. Keni was feeding Silver a jar of applesauce. Dubble had returned up stairs. Midnight was just relaxing in a chair. Twitch had entered a depressed state and was sitting alone in a corner. Remmie and Chunky were focusing on how hungry they were. Tiny was attempting a chainsaw juggle. Alexis was chatting with Rose and Glitter was trying to practice a routine. Lumpy was admiring Lisa's displays and Toothy had turned on the TV.

Everyone in the kitchen was working diligently and fluently with only a few mishaps caused by Twisty. Eventually they completed the large meal to the relief of everyone, especially Chunky and Remmie who were the first in line.

It was growing late as everyone finished their meals.

"Petunia" said Keni "If you don't mind, tomorrow, can we head back to Birch Tree Town?"

"What, seriously, what for?" Petunia asked.

"well… I don't know, I mean if Silver was able to make it, maybe everyone else was able to as well.

"You really think their ok?" Petunia asked.

Keni was silent for a moment.

"Well I don't really know, but I want to try, even if we can't find them maybe I can find some clues to how they fared" Keni said.

"Ok, but isn't it still flooded there?" Petunia asked.

"Maybe, we might need a boat, I could probably make one" Keni said.

"Maybe we could borrow a boat from Russell" suggested Giggles.

"If he won't mind, that'll work, I might not be able to make a boat in time anyway" said Keni.

Twitchy had overheard them and chimed in.

"if you guys are going there could you gather the water samples I took of the flood, I was moving things to a new lab so they should be easy to find, they're up stairs in my house if they're still there" Twitchy asked.

"What, we going on a trip or something?" asked Kurt.

"If you want to come" said Keni "and yes Twitchy, I'll try to get your samples."

"Ok, thanks" said Twitchy gratefully.

"You know, I think I've got a boat docked here too if you want to use that" said Midnight overhearing the conversation.

"Thanks Midnight" said Keni.

"No problem, just don't crash it" said Midnight.

The night continued like this until each group decided to return home. They waved their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

"What, you going to be going with them?" asked Remmie to Midnight.

"Nah, I'm gonna hang out here tomorrow, long as they don't break my boat I don't care" said Midnight.

Remmie was a bit overwhelmed with the events that unfolded today, despite all of the material they had to work with there was still too little to work with. Remmie just closed his Eyes and waited to see what tomorrow would bring.

[Well, how was that? I just spent all day getting this written (with only a minimal amount of slacking off). To those who didn't get the title, it's related to their houses burning down Dun! Dun! hope you enjoyed it. Kalgante unit 346epsilon shutting down. Beeeeeeeeewwwww…]


	8. Boom! in the cursed winds

[Aaaand we're rolling, hope you all brought your reading goggles cuz this is a long one. Also I realized something… I don't think I made Eme say anything or even do anything last chapter oh god please IHeartKawaii forgive the insolence of this wretched soul, I meant to, it was an accident. Umm uhh, here, here's a chapter uhh, just, just read it]

Daybreak, today Keni was more eager than ever, she was barely able to sleep, she was glad Silver did though. She had temporarily considered bringing silver with her on the trip but figured it best to leave her with somebody. She was filled with a number of emotions, mostly fear, Silver made it out of the flood but how likely was it that she'd find her friends. She knew it was a goose chase but her restless mind refused to allow her to kick the feeling. She had prepared the things for the trip the previous night and was ready. She left her shelter and entered the kitchen where she could smell food cooking. Inside was Petunia and Bubble making French toast, pancakes and sausage, similar to last nights meal but Bubble insisted.

"Morning Keni, were you able to sleep well?" Petunia asked.

"Uhh, no" said Keni.

"Here Keni, I made a smiley face pancake for you cuz I know how sad you are about your friends" said Bubble handing her a plate with the pancake on it.

Keni was stressed but smiled for Bubbles thought, even if she did have to force it.

"Thanks Bubble, hey Petunia, can we take this food to go, I can't wait any longer!" exclaimed Keni.

"No Keni, I won't have everyone making crumbs in the car, you will wait patiently until everyone has eaten!" demanded Petunia, she was really doing it for Keni's own good.

Keni was silent, realizing that she shouldn't be letting her emotions get the best of her. At the same time she was trying to think of something she could invent that would make everyone hungry so they'd eat faster. Everyone else was in the living room as the three delivered their food. Keni was devouring hers rapidly while some like Kurt spent most of their time talking. Keni finished hers first and waited for everyone else when she remembered to feed Silver she shot up and grabbed his food from her room and began to feed him. She also gathered up a few more things in a diaper bag and rushed back out to the living room. As it was Kurt was the only one not finished eating.

"Kurt, finish eating that or I'm throwing it out" Keni threatened.

"Easy Ken, I'm eat'n it" said Kurt starting to pick up his pace.

When he finally managed to finish it he brought his Dish to Petunia in the kitchen who was washing them.

"Ok ok let's go, c'mon" said Keni.

Everyone looked at one another and stood up, figuring that they'd probably better get ready anyway.

Kurt hurried to the basement for something. This frustrated Keni who chose to go to the car. To everyone's surprise the top of Petunias car suddenly had a large machine gun mounted on it's roof. Everyone but Andy stared at it with surprise, Andy simply climbed up top and sat in one of the two seats. Inside was filled with metal reinforcement, likely to keep the roof from collapsing on it, the tires had also been replaced with thicker versions. Kurt then rushed out of the house just before Petunia who stared in horror at this thing in her drive way.

"Like it Pets, figured we'd jack it up a bit, make it scream kick ass" said Kurt as he climbed onto the gun.

Petunia was speechless, she rushed into her house to grab a paper bag to breath into.

"Wha- what did you do to my car" said a horrified Petunia.

"Just told you pets, jacked it up" said Kurt.

Petunia hurried to her car to observe the inside. It was decked with metal bars supporting the roof. She knew that her car was not meant for this. She feared how much she'd have to pay Reuger if he had to repair it after this.

"Ok, can we please just go, c'mon" ordered Keni climbing into the back seat with Silver.

Petunia figured that she'd have to deal with this disaster for now and climbed in, at least they didn't take up seats with the reinforcement. With the other two on the roof there was enough room for the others to squeeze in. Torch sat up front. Keni had to sit with Silver on her lap. Rose sat in the middle with Alexis on the right who had to sit with Bubble on her lap. When everyone was loaded in Petunia cautiously rode off.

"So, first stop is Remmie's house right?" asked Petunia "We needed to get Twitchy."

After a short drive they arrived at Remmie's house, Keni figured that this would be the perfect time to have someone watch over Silver so she hurried to Remmies house with Silver and her diaper bag and knocked on his door. Soon after Remmie opened it.

"Uhh, what, hello" he said half asleep.

"Here Remmie, you don't mind taking care of the kid do you" Keni asked while shoving Silver and the diaper bag into his arms.

Remmie looked down at the wolf and she looked back. Remmie's eyes shot around not knowing what to do with the kid and made a face of confusion in which made Silver laugh. This only made him even more uneasy and returned inside.

"Hey Eme, you wanna take the kid?" he asked.

Eme looked at him from her spot on the couch with headphones in her ears. she could tell that he had no idea what he was doing.

"Alright" she said taking the toddler from him.

Twitchy stumbled into the room clearly in a rush.

"Sorry, hang on I'm coming" she said.

She hurried out the door and got into the car shortly followed by Keni who's seat she had taken. They discussed it amongst themselves and just tried to squeeze in as best they could. Petunia knew her car was not going to last this trip.

Lisa's house was filled with the bustle of a late dance lesson. In the dance studio was Lisa, glitter, Lumpy, Araya, and Toothy. Ansom was there but just to watch.

"Still no Cuddles huh, don't tell me he's whimping out" said Lisa.

"I actually have no idea what Cuddles is doing. I couldn't even get him on his house phone" said Toothy.

"Well, I guess we found the one thing Cuddles is afraid of" said Lisa annoyed.

Petunia and her crew had finally arrived at the docks. Sitting on a step was Giggles who Petunia immediately approached.

"So does Russell mind taking us to Birch Tree Town?" asked Petunia.

"No" she said standing up "he doesn't mind or at least he wouldn't but he's keeping his boat docked for maintenance. We might just have to take Midnight up on her offer after all."

Petunia thought to herself. She didn't think anyone else would be able to sail a boat but Russell and Midnight was still at Remmie's.

"Think he'd consider taking us with Midnight's boat?" Petunia asked.

"Maybe, I'll check with him" said Giggles.

"Umm… I'll check too" said Twitchy hurrying to Giggles's side.

"Umm… ok" said Giggles as she turned to Russell's boat where he was.

"Hey Russ-" Giggles said before she was cut off.

"Heeey Russell, what are youuu up to?" she asked.

"Aye, keep'n the ol' girl docked up. She hates it but I don't want her break'n down and sink'n to the bottom of the sea" he said.

"Really, well Giggles and I and a couple friends need a ride to Birch Tree Town and we need a talented sailor to get us there. Midnight said we could use her boat to get there" said Twitchy.

"Midnight eh, so the lass is in town again, how's she do'n?" Russell asked.

"Yea yea she's great" said Twitchy, her tone less upbeat.

"Well that's good to hear, I've been tak'n care o' that vessel o' hers whenever she was out a' town, so long as she pays it no mind it'd be my pleasure ter give ya a ride" said Russell happily.

They climbed off of Russell's boat and assembled onto Midnight's. hers was about as long as Russell's but it was closer to the water and faster. Russell took hold of the wheel and with a key that Midnight had given him started it up and set sail. The trip consisted of Twitchy switching back and forth between pestering Russell and watching the sea. Kurt and Andy firing bullets into the water with guns they had brought with them. Bubble was killing time by running up and down the ship. Rose sat lost in thought. Torch and Alexis sat in conversation with one another and Keni could only wait anxiously until they had finally come across an area of land covered in water. Everyone stopped what they were doing to observe as they began to sail through the streets that had once been familiar to them.

Many noted only a slight drop on water level. It had once covered the houses but now ones that were larger than two stories were available for access on floor two. This came to a relief to Twitchy as her water samples were in her second floor bedroom.

"Damn, look at this place" said Kurt.

Everything was as it would be expected, pieces of debris were floating along the surface of the water and houses that could be seen into were mostly empty. Much to Keni's dismay it had looked like nobody could still be here. It would likely be a fruitless endeavor if they just sailed around looking for people, Keni set it to her mind to search places that she may find her friends. The first place she could think of was her lab but they had all day to search.

"My house is near here" said Twitchy "I'll get my samples quick if you don't mind stopping here first."

Russell obliged and turned the boat down the street. It somewhat bothered Keni but she figured going anywhere was progress, even if it was just finding out where her friends weren't. as the boat approached Twitchy's house it slowed and stopped just beside her window. She carefully stepped out and onto her windowsill which was just above water level. It was surprising to see how calm and clear the water was. Twitchy squeezed through her broken window followed by Keni. The water inside the house was waist deep and riddled with debris. She even began to fear that her water samples had drifted away. She immediately began to search under the water, they were in a heavy metal case so it would have sank. She scoured the room as Keni poked around, desperate to find her friends but doubtful that they'd be in here. Eventually she noticed a wooden table in the corner of the room and sitting atop it was the metal case Twitchy was after, it appeared completely undisturbed.

"Is that it Twitchy?" Keni asked.

Twitchy looked to where Keni was pointing and was surprised to see it. She had suspected that it had fallen but there it was and she opened it. It was full of water samples that she had taken from numerous sources at different intervals. Twitchy was glad to see them still there as it had been a well calculated and diligent project. On a whim she removed an empty vial from the case and filled it with water from outside her window, sealed it, and closed the case. Twitchy and Keni then returned through the window to the boat to continue on.

"Hey Kurt" started Andy "you think Paul ever came back here?"

"why would he, we don't even know where he went" said Kurt "hey, you think we'd have been better off going with him?"

Andy shrugged, Paul had taken off a day or so before the flood but never told them where to. Suddenly everyone noticed a bothersome sight in the distance.

"Damn, is that the military?" Asked Kurt.

They noticed a few small vessels moving through the flooded streets. Russell became somewhat nervous, there have been times in his past where he did accidentally sail into military controlled waters and was reprimanded. Of course Russell was not the only one bothered by this, everyone was, why was the military even here.

"Hey guys, how about we make our next stop my lab ok. If I'm going to find my friends then I'd be most likely to find them there" said Keni.

"Well that depends lassie, I'd prefer not to get in the army's way here" said Russell worried.

Keni pointed him in the direction of her lab. They were careful about where they were heading and did what they could to avoid the military. They found that the safest path was one closer to the edge of the flood.

"What's the army even doing out here?" asked Alexis.

Torch thought to himself. He didn't think the army would ever have an interest in Birch Tree Town even if it was flooded. Maybe there'd be a cleanup crew but he could see nothing like that around.

"Somehow I can see no reason the army should be here" said Torch "We've had floods before when I was serving but we were never dispatched to them, coast guard if anything."

"So whadya think it means then?" asked Rose when she finished spacing out.

"Well if anything, it would be that there's something here they want, hey Keni" said Torch "what were you working on in your lab?"

Keni turned her attention to him.

"Hmm… I don't know, I was working on allot" said Keni trying hard to remember "let's see… well there was my shelter, they seemed a bit interested in it somewhat, you think that could be it Torch?" Keni asked.

"No, if that's what they were after I doubt there'd be here in such force" said Torch.

"Yea, if they wanted anything from your lab I'm sure they'd just go and take it, I mean, it's not exactly a secret" said Rose.

"Yea, you're right" said Keni "well I did work on a bunch of genetic experiments recently, we initiated those in a number of places, maybe they're looking for one of them?"

"Maybe… genetic research has been a big deal to the military for a while now, if it's revolutionary enough then that may be what their after…but I have my doubts" said Torch.

After winding their way through the flooded streets and avoiding the military all the while they finally arrived at Keni's lab. When she stepped up to enter it she had realized that the roof hatch had already been opened.

"I'll just be a moment guys" said Keni climbing down the hatch.

The inside of her lab was not flooded but it showed signs of it as there were numerous puddles and debris scattered about the room. She could hear the sound of her pumping system in the walls which was probably what cleared out the lab.

"Robbie… Laurel, Ayb… are any of you In here" Keni shouted but goy no response.

She continued calling to her friends as she slowly passed through the lab until she reached a ladder that lead to the floor below. She grabbed the ladder and climbed down, calling to her friends about half way down. To her surprise some of the lights were on. She sauntered through the room checking around and called to her friends again and this time she heard a response.

"Welcome home Keni" said a strange and unfamiliar voice.

Keni became startled as her eyes darted around the room.

"Who- who's there" said Keni terrified.

"Over here" said the voice followed by a loud knock.

Her eyes shot in the direction of the knock to see a figure sitting in a metal folding chair and sipping a cup of tea. His appearance was striking. He wore a long brown duster and had a revolver at his side that was facing her. He also wore a black, wide-brimmed hat that flopped just enough to cover his eyes. He had a long dull black tail of a cat but that was the only indication of what he was. He stood up from the chair and placed the cup on a dish on a metal table.

"Wha- what are you doing in here" said Keni growing somewhat angry.

"You have come in search of your friends have you not" said the creature, his voice was strange, his voice was of an average pitch but definitely had a catlike quality and he spoke with a Scottish accent.

"Yes umm… how did you know that" she said but grew angry at the next thought "you didn't hurt them did you, are they here!" her mind had filled with questions as it seemed that this guy knew something.

"I'm afraid that they are not" said the creature "your friends Keni… have been detained by the military and are prisoners… that is all but one."

"What, the military has them!" shouted a deeply worried Keni "What are they doing to them and who doesn't the military have… and just who are you?"

The creature smiled, is mouth was all that really showed behind his hat.

"I truly do not know what fate the military has planned for your friends but they have them… as for the other, he was captured by something much worse" the creature spoke this but he seemed somewhat bothered with his last statement.

"What, worse than the military? Who was it! what was it!" Keni asked horribly concerned.

"It was the Rabbit I'm afraid and he is in much worse predicament than the others" said the creature, this seemed to concern him personally.

Keni was struck with a sense of doom, the rabbit was Robby and beyond important to her. What was to become of her friends in military custody as well she feared, but a fate worse than what the military could do was something she refused to fathom. Despite her efforts there were only a few reasons she could think of as to why the military would capture them. But doubted many of them.

"Wait, if worse comes to worse and they die, won't they just come back good as new?" she asked hopeful.

The creature was silent for a moment before replying.

"I'm afraid not" said the creature.

"Wha… what, bu-but isn't that always how it is?" she asked.

"Not always" he said, he sounded like he knew even more.

"but how do you know" she said trying to fight back the new type of fear that was beginning to overcome her.

He was silent again and then spoke.

"You will have to trust that I know… your doubt should be proof enough" he said

"So then… what can I do?" pleaded Keni desperately and in tears. She needed something to put her mind at ease.

"For now, nothing" said this creature "but I recommend you stay tough, you will likely have your chance soon enough."

To Keni's shock the creature pulled out one of his revolvers. It was the oddest thing though, it had a very long barrel but it would never have been able to fit in the holster.

"Keni" the creature said "do you mind if I shoot you?"

She almost couldn't believe the question. She thought he was joking but his tone was completely serious.

"Wha- what! No you can't shoot me!" she shouted, especially after what he just said.

The creature tilted his head revealing one of his blank eyes with only an outline of a pupil. This put a scare into Keni before she heard a familiar shout from behind.

"Keni!" shouted the voice. She turned her head to see Kurt and the others making their way down the ladder.

Kurt was brandishing some type of light machinegun along with Andy who had their sights trained on the creature. Torch had a handgun pulled aiming strait at the creature as well as Alexis who also had her dog tags wrapped around her knuckles. Even Rose held one. The others were behind them and un armed.

The creature looked at them a complete lack of reaction in his demeanor and still had his gun pointed towards Keni who was kneeling in the water on the floor.

"Drop the gun pal and we won't have to kill yo-" Kurt threatened, but before he finished his sentence the creature whipped out his second revolver of the same kind with lightning speed and rattled off five rounds.

In an instant the guns cascaded from everyone's hands to the floor. They looked at their hands to see the damage but seen no bullet wounds. Instead however, their hands were completely paralyzed.

They stared in shock at the creature who had returned his extra gun to it's holster. In an act of courage Petunia, Giggles, twitchy, and Bubble rushed over to Keni and stood between her and the creature. He stared at them, his gun aimed straight between Petunias eyes but without hesitation, he fired. It was not what they expected however, instead of Petunia dropping to the ground Keni reeled forward and knocked the four down. They turned immediately and in shock as they seen Keni's body, her face still marked with the tears and fear she had beforehand. The bullet seemed to hit her from behind but there was no wound. They looked at the creature who returned his gun to his holster. he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, it sounded like wind. He then opened his eyes and looked around the room at the shocked and horrified faces of everyone there.

"You may refer to me as Diz" said the creature before he ascended a flight of stairs and left them all.

"Keni… Keni!" shouted Petunia holding Keni's head as tears poured from her eyes.

Suddenly everyone's hands returned to normal.

"Son of a biiiiitch! I'm going to fucking kill him!" shouted Kurt as he procured his machinegun and charged towards the stairs followed by Andy. The others already knew that that creature, this Diz, was gone and all they could do was stare in shock at Keni's body.

Up stairs Kurt and Andy turned everything upside down searching for Diz who they knew that they were never going to find.

"Bastard bastard bastard where the hell did you go!" Kurt shouted.

"Forget it Kurt, you know he's gone" said Andy.

Kurt slowed to a heavy breath, he knew this but refused to accept it. In the end however, it was inevitable and he responded by letting out all of his built up rage and frustration

"!" he shouted furiously while emptying his entire box magazine into the room. He even initiated several empty clicks before releasing the trigger.

Kurt fell to his knees in grief and pounded his fist onto the floor screaming all the while. He even began to tear, he had just watched somebody die right in front of him and could do nothing to stop it. Maybe if he had chosen not to talk he would have been able to stop this guy and save Keni. Nothing but fury, grief, and regret resided in his mind now as his tears created yet another puddle on the floor. The others slowly ascended the stairs with a limp Keni in their arms. They looked at Kurt and Andy with mournful eyes. Kurt turned his head away not wanting to see his failure. He slowly stood up with the aid of Andy and followed the others back to the boat.

Once aboard they needed to get out of there quickly as the racket caused by Kurt would have undoubtedly alerted the military. Without hesitation Russell made a b line for the open sea.

It had begun to grow late as they drifted back towards Happy Tree Town and the trip was silent minus the sobbing of those most heavily effected.

"Pets, you ok?" asked a concerned Kurt.

Petunia tried to answer but just couldn't.

"Damnit, I should have done something" said Kurt.

"No Kurt, you couldn't do anything, none of us could" said Petunia, tears still welling from her eyes.

"We couldn't have known what that freak was capable of Kurt, it's not your fault" assured Andy.

Kurt wanted to argue it but he knew Andy was right and fell silent again as Giggles approached Petunia to comfort her friend.

To the back of the ship sat Torch trying to comfort a grieving Twitchy while at the front was Alexis and Rose.

"What happened back there Rose, just what in gods name happened?" sobbed Alexis.

"A freak of nature Alexis" said Rose "I don't even think some of that stuff he did was possible, hell I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes… I still don't"

Alexis broke into another sobbing fit while Rose stayed to comfort her.

Inside the cabin sat Bubble sitting on a cot across from Keni who was tightly wrapped in a sheet and was being prepped to be sent off with a sailors parting. Bubble couldn't stop the tears as he stared at Keni's body across from him, he just couldn't believe it, just like everyone else.

"Russ *sniff* Russell" sobbed poor little bubble. 'Wha*sniff* what's a sailors *sniff* parting?"

Russell held back his tears and readied himself to explain it to the boy.

"Well kid" he started "it's when we send her out to mother sea. It's the greatest sendoff a sailor can ask for. We prepare and ornament a small vessel fused with the love of those she left in the world. We then light the vessel in her purifying flame and set her poor soul at peace."

"But can't she come back, how do you know that she's gone forever" said bubble barely understandable through his tears.

Russell was silent before he took a deep breath.

"Don't you feel it lad, it's in the air" started Russell "we may not know it but we all can feel it whatever brings us back has left with whatever kills us and everyone's doomed emotions are proof of this notice how the idea of her coming back was an after thought born from desperation and despair."

Bubble thought about this and realized he was right, usually the thought of resurrection was immediate and common knowledge, but not this time.

"But *sniff* how do you know this" Bubble asked, hoping for anything to shine doubt on Keni's death.

"An old sailors tale m'boy" said Russell "it also tells us that it has happened before and that each period of this lasts longer and longer the more it occurs. Bubble my boy, we all have to be careful… for her sake."

The tears he had been holding back had now begun to leak out but he kept his sights set for home.

Bubble had heard too much and shoved his face into a pillow to muffle his blaring sobs. It was all too much for him.

Russell kept his sights forward on the town that was now coming into view and a gentle rain had begun to fall. he heard something from behind however, a weak but violent cough.

"Lad?" said Russell as he turned his head but Bubble was still sobbing into a pillow, instead what he seen was coming from the bundle across from Bubble. He heard the cough again and moments later Keni weakly opened her eyes.

Back at Remmie's house everyone was gathered in the living room settling down for a delicious southern-style meal courtesy of Midnight. Eme had her music playing throughout the room with silver sitting beside her, Twitch couldn't sit still and was pacing round the room stuffing his face. Trippy and Twisty sat on the floor playing a board game at Twisty's request. Tiny was sitting on the back of the couch watching Remmie, chunky, and Flaky (who had stayed there again) playing videogames with their greasy hands.

"This chicken's amazing Midnight, what did you put in it?" asked Eme.

"Family's secret recipe, if I told you I'd have no choice but to kill you" Midnight joked.

"Mmm… too bad silver, your too little for this" said Eme with a mouthful of food.

Remmie sat intently at the game with a chicken leg hanging out of his mouth.

"Hey Remmie do you mind if I cook breakfast tomorrow, I'm trying to learn how to cook" said Trippy.

"Ok, I'll help you" said Remmie with a mouthful of chicken.

"Awesome, I'll help too" said Chunky "I don't think I'm as good a cook as I am a connoisseur but it sounds fun."

There were times when Remmie actually liked having these people here, even though it's only been a few days they had grown on him, even Twitch with his evil psychosis and Tiny who Remmie just loved to hate. they had even begun to feel like family to him.

Suddenly and without warning they heard a massive crash as Remmies front door and the wall around it were reduced to splinters that were sent cascading throughout the room. The shock stunned them as they clamored to see what had been done.

Standing in the hole that it made for its self in the wall stood a monster. It stood nearly three and a half times the size of a tree friend. It was massive and muscular. It looked like smashing a wall would be small time compared to what it could do. It's posture was hunched and powerful. It had pale black skin and patches of grey fur on it's knees and elbows. It had a couple rabbit like features like a large set of ears that flopped against it's back and a small puffball tail. It wore a chain around it's waist with a leather pouch tied to it. It also wore a helmet that covered a single eye but revealed a single light grey one that lacked most visible features and it's mouth appeared to be sewn shut but was loose enough to make audible facial expressions. It's hands were also quite large, large enough to wrap around a tree friend's torso. One hand had a steel gauntlet on it and in that hand the creature held the shaft of a giant battleaxe.

His eyes glanced around the room at the stunned faces. His expression however was blank. It was as if he was looking for something. When his eyes locked onto Twitch however his face opened to a wide grin and he lumbered towards him, ignoring everyone else. Twisty screamed in fear causing Trippy to wrap her in a protective embrace. Midnight was the first to act, her sword was drawn like lightning as it dug into the creature's tough flesh. He responded by swatting her aside into a wall, his attention never left Twitch. Twitch scurried away in a depressed state causing the creature to change course. Remmie had entered his berserk state and swung himself up the creature to nail it in the face. He landed a hit on the mouth but was swatted to the ground. The creature grinned even wider, enjoying this conflict. Eme returned from the kitchen with a large knife and plunged it into the creature's hip. It responded by grabbing the knife and her hand and throwing her against a wall with ease.

At some point during the scuffle Chunky had run up stairs and returned with a mace, helmet, and shield from Remmie's room.

"Die fiend!" Chunky shouted as he charged it but was met with a boot to his gut and sent reeling.

Remmie drove a spike into the creatures hip as Midnight slashed it across the back. The creature met her with a back kick against the wall. Trippy briefly considered activating her sister's "trigger" but did not want to put her into danger. They were all receiving a brutal beat down and it seemed that the creature was mostly toying with them. His eyes continued to wander, looking for the rabbit but he was no where. Remmie was getting desperate. He prepared himself and charged full pelt at the creature, just as he neared it he jumped and rolled into a ball. When he felt his spikes sink into the creatures flesh he unrolled. With his feet just below the creature's jaw Remmie began rocking it with a barrage of kicks. It responded by switching his axe hand and reached for Remmie with his gauntleted one. Remmie got in as many kicks as he could before rolling back into a ball. The creature grabbed him and squeezed, crushing some of his spikes. A few got through the gloved part of the gauntlet but he paid it no mind as he hurled Remmie into chunky who was just returning to his feet. Remmie was able to unroll just in time to avoid impaling Chunky.

Midnight seen this as her chance to end it. She set her target and drove her sword through the creatures back and the blade stuck out the other side. The creature stopped what it was doing and turned his head to Midnight with a grinning face, something was wrong. Midnight observed her target only to notice a lack of indent where a spine would be, instead her sword stuck through an oblong shaped muscle group formed by two indents on either side of it. The creature had two spines. The creature raised his gauntleted hand and pounded on the sword sending it back out and sending Midnight into the couch. He turned to observe his work when he felt something leap onto his shoulder and stab him repeatedly. It was Twitch stabbing the creature with a broken chicken bone. The creature grabbed the rabbit and held it in his hand watching as it tried to set its self free by stabbing his gauntleted hand to no avail. The creature intended to turn and walk out of the house with his prize but was suddenly hit with something that required him to slam the pommel of his axe into the floor to avoid falling over.

When the creature turned to see it's attacker he discovered that it was Splendid. Splendid motioned the creature to come outside and it obliged. He took a look at Twitch who was still trying desperately to escape and knocked him against his head to knock him out. He then dropped him and exited the house to confront Splendid who he was eager to fight. Without hesitation Splendid swooped to him and delivered a barrage of punches that rocked the creature and staggered it backwards. The creature only attempted a few swats that Splendid managed to avoid.

Eventually the creature fell to it's knee and everyone watched in excitement from Remmie's house at the spectacle.

"You ready to surrender beast" said Splendid, backing off.

The creature, bleeding from the face and previous wounds done by the others had actually began to laugh. It was a deep, growly laugh but a laugh none the less. It reached it's bare hand into it's pouch and pulled out a vial which he held out to show Splendid. He then crushed it in his hand and opened it to reveal that it had contained some type of goop. He turned his hand to drop the pieces of the vial and some of the goop. He rose to his feet and smeared it onto one of the axe's blades.

"So, your not going to surrender" said Splendid.

The creature braced its self, a wide grin still across it's face.

"Then I suppose I have no choice but to exterminate you here and now" said

Splendid.

The flying squirrel took aim and charged at this over confident creature who was in a steadfast stance. As Splendid approached their eyes locked and they stared deep into each others souls. Splendid came in fast and the creature readied himself. The second Splendid was within range the creature finally swung it's massive axe to an outcome nobody had expected. To their horror the axe had severed Splendid's body in two and now his guts had splattered all over the back of Remmie's living room. They stared in silent horror as the creature returned to his regular stance.

"Ha, prepared that just for you squirrelly" said the creature. His voice seemed more refined than they would have expected despite it being in a growl. What surprised them more was that it could talk.

Before the creature could return it's attention to the others he was illuminated by headlights. Somewhat annoyed he turned his head to see a blue car with a machinegun mounted on the roof.

Kurt stared from his position on the gun with no idea what to think.

"What the hell is that?" asked Kurt to Andy.

Andy couldn't answer him but everyone in the car stared at the behemoth standing a few yards in front of them.

"Oh my god" said Rose shocked "Alexis, isn't that that thing we seen the other night?"

Alexis stared at it shocked, she defiantly recognized it.

"That's definitely it" said Alexis.

They could see the blood all over the creature and it's axe as well as the damage it had done to Remmie's house. It was plenty obvious that this creature only held vile intentions. Torch turned to check on Keni who could barely speak and was breathing very shallow. She was laid across Rose and Twitchy in the back seat.

"Who the hell are you freak!" shouted Kurt, with memories of what happened to Keni fresh in his mind he would refuse to let anyone else be hurt.

The creature turned to them and glanced back into Remmies house for the Twitch only to find that he was no longer where he had left him. The creature sneered with annoyance and turned his attention to the vehicle. He had raised his hand to block out the light.

"You here me scumbag, who the hell are you!" shouted the edgy Kurt.

The creature grinned again and hunched over, beckoning for them to fire.

"What the hell… is this thing serious?" asked Andy.

"Petunia, I'm gonna light this asshole up, keep on him alright" said Kurt.

After what happened to Keni Petunia was prepared to do anything to stop it from happening again. She may have not known anything about this thing but it was not something good.

"Gotchya Kurt, just tell me what to do" said Petunia.

Everyone was edgy and this creature was an obvious threat. Torch brandished Kurt's light machinegun while Alexis held Andy's. even Twitchy had a gun this time and with bubble on her lap she hung out of the window with the others.

The creature let out a roaring laugh at this and slammed the pommel of his axe on the ground and held it there.

"Fucking fire!" shouted Kurt.

In an instant the creature was being bathed in a hail of gunfire but was using the head of his axe to guard his upper body. A number of bullets tore into his legs but he did not react. He seemed to be calculating everything, the pain, the force of the bullets, everything. He finally grinned again and charged off, away from Remmie's house at alarming speed.

"Keep up with hip Pets!" shouted Kurt.

Petunia obliged and followed down the street. They tried to cripple the creature's legs as it was guarding it's upper body with his axe but it only seemed to make them bleed. Eventually the creature stopped and reached into a bush on the side of the road. He positioned his axe for the most protection possible as he pulled a large metal keg from its place in the bush. He reached into his pouch as the car drew closer. From his pouch he drew a large lighter and lit a thick wick protruding from the keg and let out a laugh.

"Boom!" he bellowed to himself before he heaved the object that was half his size with a single hand towards the oncoming vehicle.

"Ahh, damnit, Petunia, get back, throw it in reverse!" ordered Kurt.

Petunia did as he said and managed to hit reverse as the wick disappeared into the keg. The result was a massive explosion that sent Petunia's car cascading backwards to Remmie's house. The explosion destroyed the road with a massive crater.

Nobody could believe what had just happened. Everyone from Remmie's house hurried out, battered and bruised, to check on the others. Everyone attempted to crawl out of the flipped car, miraculously the reinforcement that Kurt and Andy put into it held up and the car managed to survive… mostly. the gun on top was quite damaged from the flip and Kurt and Andy were tossed from it in the flip. They managed to return to their feet though to check on everyone and help them out of the car.

Petunia stared at her wreck, her first car was a mess that she was never sure if she could pay off. Everyone was able to escape from the disaster with minimal injuries thanks to Kurt and Andy's work in the car. Everyone was mostly concerned with Keni who really didn't need this in her state.

"Damn, what the hell was that all about?" Kurt asked to no one in particular.

"The freak just plowed his way through the wall… none of us seen it coming" said Midnight.

"Oh my god, is Keni ok" asked Eme noticing her condition.

"She's fine" said Twitchy "she's just had a really difficult day today"

Eme looked at Keni's pitiful condition

"What happened to her?" Eme asked.

"Not even sure" said Twitchy "one minute we thought she was dead then the next she was trying to stand… she's really weak right now so don't bother her too much."

Eme looked at her ahd gave her a warm smile.

"don't worry Keni, I took good care of Silver, I'll go get him for you" said Eme, hurrying into the house. She had moved Silver to the basement during the attack and Twitch was out cold in Remmie's room.

"So I take it, it didn't go too well?" asked Midnight.

"Not at all" said Rose "we did end up using your boat, it wasn't damaged at all."

"I see… so what happened?" asked Midnight.

"well" Rose started "we showed up there to find that the military had begun patrols there for whatever reason. Russell insisted that we avoid them and took us on a long path to get to Keni's lab. Instead of finding her friends there however she found some freaky squatter that tried to kill her. On the way back she woke up apparently not dead and everyone stopped crying. Needless to say we of course didn't find anything and it was all a huge waste of time."

Midnight thought about all this, she somewhat wished she was there to see it all.

Eme soon returned with Silver and gave her to Keni who struggled to give her a hug. Keni showed a weak smile and attempted to stand.

"Careful Keni" said Torch on his way over.

She managed to stand as her strength gradually returned.

"Well… we should probably get Keni home" suggested Petunia.

Everyone agreed and Remmie's group chose to follow them. They shared small talk along the way until they arrived at Lisa's house who had taken everyone outside for a walk. Even Thunder and Dubble came along.

"Hey guys, you out for a walk too?" Lisa asked.

The large group seen this as an opportunity to fill everyone in on what had occurred today. Remmie's group talked about the creature that had broken into his house for reasons beyond their knowing.

"So what, that creature had a giant axe and didn't even use it?" Lilith asked to Trippy.

"Yea, he didn't even seem interested in fighting, he only seemed to care about Twitch. The way he just killed Splendid, he could have just done that to any of us." said Trippy.

"Maybe he didn't think any of you were a threat" said Lilith.

"I thought that… but midnight and Remmie looked like they were doing pretty good on him but he didn't seem the least bit interested."

Another conversation was bout how Keni returned to life.

"what's so odd about that, isn't that how it always is" asked Lisa to Torch.

"I would think… but something was just off about it" started Torch "usually it takes up to a week and at least a day to resurrect but she returned only a little while after dying. Not to mention you come back a little dazed but she was practically a vegetable when he came back… it's almost as if she was never dead to begin with but when I checked she showed no signs of life."

Bubble seemed very bothered with what Russell told him, he figured he should let everyone else know.

"Umm… excuse me everyone" she said but it seemed few people heard him.

"Excuse me!" he yelled a bit louder but everyone was in their own conversations.

"Hey chatterboxes listen up, the kid's got something to say!" shouted Kurt.

Nobody could miss hi voice and they all heard it clearly and silenced themselves.

"Thanks Kurt" said Bubble.

"Yep" said Kurt.

"Ok, umm I have to tell you all something Russell told me" started Bubble "he said that umm… every now and then umm… we all stop coming back after we die. He said that it was a sailor story and that it's happening now."

"Did he even say how he knows this Bubble?" Dubble asked, always doubting his brother.

"Umm… no" Bubble continued "he said that we all just know, he said he can feel it in the air."

"Whatever Bubble" said Dubble spitefully.

"He's right" said Keni to everyone's surprise.

Her voice was weak but she could talk again.

"That cat guy told me" she continued " he said that our doubt about resurrecting should be proof enough, he told me to trust that he just knows."

"Yea, the same "cat guy" who tried to kill you, you're gonna trust him?" said Kurt.

Keni was silent, it was a strange conversation but he knew he was speaking the truth. The experience she had after being shot was also strange, she had died plenty of times before but this was different somehow… like she still had something inside of her at the time preventing the same death experience.

"Look, I don't know what that guy was up to… but… I believed him."

Everyone was silent, they knew the proof, everyone who seen it doubted that Keni would return, for once in their entire lives they doubted someone's resurrection… it bothered them profoundly.

The night went on with a few more conversations of what occurred that day but could not get the haunting thought out of their heads. They returned everyone home and the last stop was Remmie's house as they stood in front of the house there was only one question left in their heads.

"Who the hell's gonna clean up this mess?"

[ok, I admit it, I almost cried when writing this chapter so you all better have too! Anyways this is just the tip of the iceberg so I hope your ready for more. Also Boom threatened to chop me in half if his debut chapter didn't go over well so make sure to comment… Please *whimper* (he's the big guy with the axe)]


	9. Tell me what you know!

[Hello again all to chapter 9. A note to Kenikitten, don't worry about your guess, it was not unfounded, also if by ran away in your chronicles you meant escaped the military I wouldn't recommend writing that… you'll see. Still feel free to write, I rather like it. And about Robby, I'm sure he doesn't know who took him either, nor is he sure where he is, he is trapped though, think of it as a dungeon. anyway I couldn't think of anything else to say so here we go!]

After a long night of tidying up a mess of gore, wood, and insulation everyone at Remmie's was exhausted. They had to hang a tarp up over the massive hole in the wall as some form of cover. They sustained a total of three casualties during the fight. Flaky and Tiny were hit hard with flying debris and knocked out cold. Flaky was glad to have had such luck and not have had to whiteness it. Tiny however was highly disappointed as he would loved to have chain-sawed the creature. Twitch had come to a while after being knocked out by the behemoth, he continued on as he always would have. Nobody was uninjured however, Remmie was busy plucking broken spikes which left him with a couple bald spots on his back. Most others were just cuts and bruises but Midnight was battered the worst and was so sore she could barely move.

All of them were still shocked that Splendid had been killed, his only reported death was when he was exposed to the cryptonut, how was this thing able to just lop him in half like that. Twitchy was back with them and after the cleanup worked diligently on her water samples.

As Remmie had promised, he, Trippy, and Chunky began to cook breakfast. The topic about that monster was still hot but they managed to talk about other things to settle the mood.

"So will your spikes grow back Remmie?" Trippy asked.

Remmie reached back and felt a bald spot, the short fur between the spikes was surprisingly soft.

"Yea, they will" said Remmie.

"They must be hard to live with" said Trippy.

"Well I've gotta buy quill proof everything, more expensive and less comfortable than regular furniture or clothes… but it's what I'm used to" started Remmie, it felt good that someone was actually concerned for it "Flaky has to deal with it too though. Her quills are more flexible however so she can sometimes manage with regular furniture. The worst part is that you need to keep aware of what's around you or you might stab someone."

Twitchy could see this as the curse of hedgehogs and porcupines, and even echidnas that was obscure to most other animals. She couldn't even imagine having to check before she sat down or look behind her every time she backed up or having to specially purchase everything.

"Can I touch them?" Trippy asked, it was something she wanted to do since she got there.

"Umm… I guess so" said Remmie, it wasn't the first time someone asked him that.

Trippy reached over to rub his back and was surprised to how it felt. She could feel how sharp his spikes were but it was bristly and smooth if pet the right way. It felt sort of like a firm hairbrush.

"Hey sis, is breakfast read-" said Twisty entering the room and noticing her petting Remmie's back.

"Hey, can I feel too?" Twisty asked.

Remmie wanted to slam his face into the frying pan he was cooking with.

"I guess" said Remmie reluctantly, he could never understand why people wanted to pet his spikes.

Twisty reached out her hand and began to pet Remmies spikes.

"Oooh, it feels like a hairbrush" said Twisty.

This made Remmie feel even weirder. Midnight then passed by and noticed it on her way to the living room. She began laughing to herself before she felt sore again and continued into the living room to sit.

"Ok that's enough" said Remmie as a result of this and his spikes tensed up.

Chunky began laughing hysterically at this and Remmie blushed and turned every ounce of attention to his cooking.

Back at Petunias house Keni was mostly back to her old self, still tired though. In the basement Kurt and Andy assembled their weapons.

"Next time we see any of those assholes were gonna be ready" said Kurt assembling an RPG launcher "especially the big guy, one of these suckers right between his eyes."

Andy seemed to like that idea but was bothered by the sheer lack of damage that seemed to be done even with their machinegun.

"How do you think that bastard did it" asked Andy.

"Did what?" asked Kurt.

"how did he avoid being dropped by our guns. We should have been able to saw off his legs but we didn't manage to do a thing" said Andy annoyed.

"Tough bastard" said Kurt "not even worth worrying about, if machineguns won't work then we'll blow the bastard up."

Andy expected this kind of reply but was still bothered.

In the living room Torch sat with Alexis, Rose, and Keni.

"How are you doing Keni?" Torch asked.

"I'm allot better now Torch?" said Keni.

"I see… that's good, do you think you could answer some questions for me?" Torch asked, his doctors instincts taking over.

"Well… if you need to I guess" said Keni.

"Thank you, I'm trying to figure this out" started Torch "now then can you remember anything after being shot?"

This was not a topic she wished to discuss but she knew that she should.

"Well… it was pretty typical. I can only really remember dieing then I found myself wrapped in a sheet on Midnight's boat… there was something else though… it was like some kind of vague memory… but it was just… nothingness. Like there was a period of consciousness that cannot be reached. I really can't describe it… I was definitely dead… I think." Keni said to Torch.

Torch thought to himself and tried to make sense of what she was saying. What could this period of vague consciousness be in a death situation. Despite his efforts things made no sense to him.

"Well thanks Keni, unfortunately all that I can determine is that your case is definitely one that I have never experienced before" said Torch.

"I see, sorry I couldn't be of more help" apologized Keni.

"it's fine, I've got something to work with anyway" said Torch as he stood up and walked away.

Keni stopped to reflect on that creature, Diz's words. She was told his name some point after they returned to Petunia's house. Ayb, Laurel, they were in military custody, the thought was horrible. Then Robby was taken by something else. It brought her some peace knowing their fates but fear for their wellbeing, she was again uneasy. When her mind returned back to Laurel and Ayb she was hit with another bothersome thought, an experiment that she had preformed for them, was it safe. Keni couldn't sit still as she rose up and hurried to her shelter in the storage room.

"Hey Keni, what's the matter?" asked Alexis.

Keni stopped in her tracks.

"You two, come help me" Keni said.

Even Lisa's house was effected by the events of the previous day despite not being caught up in them like the others. Thunder seemed the most agitated about this. As Lisa finished giving an extra dance lesson to Araya she noticed Thunder talking to somebody on the phone.

"we're spread too thin right now and you're the only team available… yes, I just want you to run reconnaissance, just see what you can get and report back to me, they have no place being there… no, do not engage in any way, just keep an eye on them, when you have information tell me and I'll have further orders for you. Yes good luck" Thunder said over the phone, he also seemed to notice Lisa watching him.

"Something you want Lisa" Thunder said annoyed.

"Who were you just talking to?" asked Lisa.

"One of my teams" Thunder responded "I've ordered them to stakeout the military's presence in Birch Tree Town."

"What's the big deal about Birch Tree Town?" Lisa asked.

"Aside from the flood, nothing, and that's the problem" started Thunder "the military has no reason to be there yet according to Alexis they seem to be there in force. I ordered a team out to find why."

"Is it really that important?" asked Lisa.

"Well the fact that we've been living there for years and never found anything that the military would care about suggests that there is something there now that they want. I need to find out what it is" said Thunder.

"Does it really matter?" Lisa asked, still un able to see his goals.

"If it's a weapon or research I can't let them have it. Before I can formulate a plan I need to know what they want."

"The military never has good intentions" said Lilith just descending the stairs "I'm not going to let them take anything from that town. So Thunder you want information on Birch Tree Town, right?" Lilith asked.

"What, you got something for me?" Thunder asked.

"Yea, I was just in town playing a round of cards, apparently some soldiers came by for their day off. We had a few rounds and played a few hands so I was able to bet some info out of one of the pricks. Said they were setting up some sort of field lab in Birch Tree Town, didn't say what they were after though" Lilith explained to Thunder.

A wide grin grew across Thunder's face.

"You said they were in town, good, maybe I won't have to wait for my teams information after all" said Thunder grabbing his bundled weapon from the table.

"Go'n to beat it out of em' huh, alright, I'm come'n with ya" said Lilith with a grin.

"You guys can't be serious!" exclaimed Lisa.

"Hey, you don't have to come" said Lilith.

"Look, if they realize that I'm sheltering you then I'll be in just as much crap with the military as you will be!" shouted Lisa.

"I'm the leader of Phoenix clan Lisa, trust me, you'll never be suspected of anything, besides, this won't be the first time I've beaten information out of the military" said Thunder proudly.

Lisa could see no way to talk them out of it but she also didn't seem to be completely against it, the military was definitely up to something and Lisa didn't feel right about it. Thunder and Lilith hurried out of the house and moved straight for down town.

Back at Remmies house they had a couple of unexpected visitors drawn by the opportunity of Remmie's missing walls. They were met by Midnight just beyond the tarp that was serving to cover the massive hole.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" said midnight recognizing the two as Lifty and Shifty.

"Ah, good day madam, my brother and I couldn't help but notice the damage of your house and thought we could humbly lend you our services" said Shifty.

"Not even my house, and don't call me madam" said Midnight.

At that time Remmie arrived to see who was there and he immediately grew angry at their sight.

"What are you doing here?" asked Remmie sternly.

They looked somewhat nervous, Remmie had killed them several times in the past.

"Ah yes this is your house isn't it my friend" said Shifty trying to suck up.

"What do you want" said Remmie unaffected by their attempts to brown nose.

"Well we noticed your house is looking awfully drab and we figured you could use our expert workmanship to assist, we have an offer you'd be foolish to refuse" said Shifty.

"it's a quality full walling combo, drywall, insulation, quality woods from overseas, the whole shebang, it'll make your house the envy of the town" Lifty followed up.

"Don't want it, go away" said Remmie immediately.

The brothers looked at one another knowing that there was no way Remmie would buy their scam. Then again, that's not the reason they came in the first place.

"Alright whatever, here's the deal Remmie, we didn't come to make a deal with you, we were requested by our sales representative to give you this pamphlet" Shifty said handing out a folded piece of paper.

Something about there new tone seemed like they were uninterested in the pamphlet meaning that it was probably safe to peruse.

"Thanks, you done now?" asked Remmie.

"Yea, see ya" the two said in unison before taking off arguing.

Eme hurried to the front when she heard Lifty's voice.

"Hi Lifty!" she shouted.

"Lifty waved and continued arguing.

The three returned inside the house. Remmie made his way to the couch and sat down beside Eme. He opened the pamphlet just as Twitchy passed by to get a snack.

"Hey Remmie, what's that you've got" The squirrel asked as she sat beside him to see it.

"Some pamphlet for something, how's your water analysis Go'n?" Remmie asked.

"Oh, about what I've expected so far, still not sure what I'm looking for though but I guess I will when I find it" Twitchy said.

Remmie turned his attention to the pamphlet. It's contents were surprising, it looked almost like a catalog. It contained several photos and even prices, what was so shocking about it was that it was about military ordinance.

"Oooh, that's definitely black market stuff there, who did you get this from?" Twitchy asked.

"Lifty and Shifty" said Remmie "said it was a request from their sales representative"

"Thought so, yep this is definitely Swindles work" Twitchy said.

Back at Petunia's house Petunia had received a similar pamphlet as Remmie. She sat staring at it confused, what would she need this military stuff for. She figured it would appeal to Kurt and Andy more and called them from the basement.

"Damn, how'd you get this!" said Kurt surprised.

"Lifty and Shifty came by and dropped it off, probably another scam" said Petunia.

"This is some top grade shit here" said Kurt "doubt it'd be a scam, this is black market. Military's probably got a station nearby that their stealing this stuff from, damn, with what we've been dealing with lately we'd probably be able to make better use of this stuff than them."

"What can we use?" asked Keni who had just left the storage room with Alexis and Rose.

"Some military grade shit" said Kurt.

"Military… what military exactly?" asked Alexis.

"Same one occupying Birch Tree Town, our own" said Kurt.

At that moment they heard an unusual vehicle pass by Petunias house and upon inspection it was a military humvee. This set Keni's mind into a maelstrom of thought. This was her opportunity to ask about her friends, she charged out the door, desperate to get their attention but they had already passed. That failed to stop her however as she ran off after them followed by Alexis and Rose. Kurt stayed to peruse the pamphlet with Andy.

Downtown Thunder and Lilith casually entered a bar and sat down at the counter. They ordered their drinks separately and Lilith ordered buffalo wings. They sat silently all the while waiting patiently for their targets to enter. Lilith's wings arrived and she began to eat them. Soon afterwards the doors opened and four soldiers entered. Thunder and Lilith glanced at them and were disappointed to see that they were of fairly low rank, so much for a fight, they'd still have their fun with them though. The second the group was behind Thunder he swung around and gave the first one a powerful fist to the gut then elbowed his neck when he hunched over. Another had attempted to draw his gun but Thunder grabbed it and forced it into the air. The soldier stared in terror at the wolf's strength as he was grabbed by the head and slammed against the wall again, and again… and again before he was slammed to the floor.

Meanwhile Lilith had grabbed her first victims head and slammed his face into her knee. When his head returned to it's normal elevation she followed up with a swift kick to the gut and the second he hunched over she met him with a barstool over the back of his head. The other also attempted to draw his gun but Lilith, like water, flowed over to him and grabbed the gun while using her back and momentum to press the soldier against the wall. She then took the gun herself, spun around and hammered the stock into his face. She continued to bash him with it until he fell to the floor to which she finished off the beat down by spiking the stock into his face.

The two looked around the room at the stunned patrons. The soldiers were taken down in less than a minute. Lilith returned to her wings and brought one back with her as they examined to see who they should interrogate first. The soldier that Lilith hit with the bar stool and the one Thunder elbowed in the back of the head were out cold. The other two were a bloody mess. Thunder chose to use the one he had slammed into the wall.

"Alright novice, I want you to tell me what the military's doing it Birch Tree Town" Demanded Thunder.

The rookie stared in terror, it was clear that he'd be easy to interrogate.

"I- I don't know" he said.

Thunder slammed him against the wall again.

"Not in the mood to play your games fresh meat, answer my question!" Thunder shouted.

"umm…. Well they- they're looking for something" said the Rookie.

"What is it!" shouted Thunder.

"Umm… well I er, can't tell you" said the rookie.

That's when Lilith got a brilliant idea born from a curiosity. She looked at her chicken leg only to see that she had eaten it, she returned to her tray and grabbed another. She returned and smeared some of the sauce onto her finger. She then kneeled down beside the rookie and stared him in the eye while he stared back. Then with great swiftness wiped the sauce on her finger into the soldiers eye. the soldier screamed in pain as the sauce did it's job.

"Huh, so it does work" said Lilith to herself.

"Ok ok, all I know is that they're there to research something, they going to set up an entire operation there to do it" said the rookie.

Thunder knew the ways of many military's and this seemed like the extent of knowledge a recruit would have, maybe even a little more. Thunder chose to leave the man alone and take his leave when he heard the familiar sound of a humvee just outside the bar. Thunder prepared himself and pressed himself against the wall near the door. He glanced out of the window to see a small squad of soldiers who looked like they were set to enter the same bar, this time there were five of them and of higher rank. It would be too risky to combat them but they would undoubtedly be caught, they were in a bind, it seemed to them that their best course of action would be to combat them but they were then blessed with a miracle as Reuger passed by. The soldiers stopped instantly to greet the former general. Thunder and Alexis seized the opportunity to walk casually out the door and proceed back to Lisa's. the soldiers insisted that they buy Reuger a drink and lead him into the bar only to find their battered troops struggling to their feet. Alexis and Thunder broke into a sprint to make as much space between them and the army.

With the description of two wolves and witnessing them leave they hurried back to their vehicle and mounted up. This concerned Reuger enough to hop onto the humvee as well.

As Thunder and Alexis ran they passed Keni, Rose, and Alexis. Thunder noticed Alexis immediately and approached her.

"Alexis, what are you doing?" he asked as he noticed that she was in a hurry too.

"We're trying to catch up with a humvee that passed by us recently, We're trying to find out what happened to Keni's friends" Alexis told him

Just as Alexis finished the humvee caught up with them and the soldiers piled off in formation with weapons trained on the group.

"Everyone, on the ground!" shouted the supposed leader of the squad.

Reuger dismounted to observe the situation.

Thunder shoved Alexis behind him and began to unwrap the bundle he had carried with him. When it was unwrapped it folded out in to a large X shape with four sharp black blades on each extension. He held it in the middle and positioned it in front of him. The soldiers prepared to fire but Reuger stepped in.

"Stand down men, I'll take it from here" said Reuger stepping forward "Thunder, you and Lilith just beat down a small group of recruits, for what reason may I ask?"

Reuger's tone was more official now then any of them were used to.

"Information, I wanted to know what interest the damn military seems to have in Birch Tree Town" said Thunder "you didn't seem to give half a damn about it before it flooded, now it looks like you like it enough to build a base there.

The soldiers wanted to bring this guy down but Reuger made them stay their hands.

"I've got to say, that interests me too" said Reuger turning his attention to the soldiers "When I was serving I found that Birch Tree Town was barely even a candidate to build a naval base. What exactly are you doing there?"

"All I got was that they were there to research something" said Thunder.

"And that's all your getting wolf" said one of the soldiers "and don't even bother asking us, the top brass keeps that to themselves, we don't know any more than the rooks."

"Then let me ask you something" demanded Keni "Why did you capture my friends?"

The soldiers looked at each other.

"your friends, sorry but we've captured a lot of peoples friends in the past" said one of the soldiers.

"Ayb and Laurel, what are you doing with them?" Keni asked demandingly.

"Oh yea, the hippo and the hamster, don't know why we've got them, some of us were just ordered to capture anyone we seen in Birch Tree Town, no idea why either. We've tried to enlist their help a couple times but for the most part we just leave them in their cells, not very cooperative" one of the soldiers explained.

"That's ridiculous, why even bother holding them" said Keni growing angry.

"Orders little lady, sides, not our call to make anyway, the brass wants em' to stay and since they're in charge of our pay then I'm sure you can see the dilemma" said a soldier.

"Hey, wait a minute, commander, I can't help but notice that she didn't mention the rabbit, or the chinchilla" said another soldier.

Keni was confused, Chinchilla, did her experiment work?

The commander thought about the rabbit and the thought disturbed him.

"So then, who gave you this information" the commander said bothered, realizing that she knew more than she should have.

"He called himself Diz, if you know him. So while I'm on the topic, what happened to Robby?" Keni asked, she was too angry to be hit with the fear of Robby's fate.

The soldiers were silent, despite their attitudes most of them did felt somewhat bad for her. They did not recognize the name Diz however. Their tones drastically changed.

"Ok look, we were attacked by something only a few hours after capturing who we were able to find. None of us were there but the reports say that something overwhelmed the soldiers on the barge. According to the report it only took the rabbit, the others are apparently still in custody and are locked up tight" said the commander.

Keni was surprised about how open they were with this information, she didn't really care to find out why though. All she could find out though is exactly what Diz had already told her… almost.

"Anyway you two, for your assault on our troops we are under orders to detain you, come peacefully or be shot dead" said the commander.

Thunder and Lilith were prepared to fight them to the death.

"That's not necessary men, I may no longer be in the military its self but my name and rank still carry weight" said Reuger "leave them alone"

"You serious Reuger, these two just assaulted our own men" said one of the soldiers.

"You heard me, until I know why the military is there I will not disapprove of civilians actions against you" Reuger said.

The soldiers again looked at one another.

"if those are your orders General, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to add this to my report. To general Sky" said the commander.

"Sky huh, if you must, I fear no repercussion" said Reuger.

With that the soldiers loaded into their humvee and drove off.

Keni looked distraught, even the military held few answers to the fate of her friends.

"Even after all this… I've got nothing" said Keni growing upset.

"Not so" said Reuger "they said something attacked a barge and made off with one of your friends, that means that they had loaded them onto a barge to begin with. For field work the military has high security barges where they can keep prisoners, therefore your friends are on a boat that's likely still near Birch Tree Town. If you'd like, I'll see if I can't pull a few strings to get them released. I can see no reason for the military to capture civilians though… that bothers me."

Keni for once in a long while looked hopeful… but still had many unanswered questions.

"Please Reuger, do whatever it takes" said Keni desperately.

The group began to return home. Rose had begun to feel a connection with Keni now though for she was also looking for someone.

"Hey Keni, I hope you find your friends" said Rose gripping the pendant beneath her shirt.

This surprised Keni as rose wasn't usually so nice.

"Thanks rose" Keni said happily.

Upon their return to Petunia's house Keni moved straight for her shelter. Rose and Alexis watched TV with Petunia, Torch, and Bubble. In the basement sat Kurt and Andy. after having spent the entire day constructing their guns the basement began to look like an armory. Andy perused the pamphlet, excited to get his hands on some of these armaments.

Back at Lisa's who had also received a pamphlet everyone, including Thunder was in the living room enjoying dinner. Thunder and Alexis had filled them in on what had happened that day. Thunder however did not have the information he was after but it didn't take long to receive a lead. At some point during dinner Lisa's house phone rang and the caller ID read it as the team Thunder dispatched and he eagerly answered it.

"Thunder" said the voice "We have just spotted something you may be interested in. all day they've just been moving things around and it seems that they are constructing some type of plant. Second anomaly, we have discovered a large barge that just recently arrived anchored just outside of town."

[Well that's it, my house was just invaded by evil fable gnomes who are say'n stuff about my mum so if you'll excuse me I'm off to shoot them with my holy vengeance, ta ta]


	10. A Day at the Fair

[Ok I'm back, this chapter is just as it's name implies and I've chosen to use this chance to develop some characters more so do enjoy the day off at the fair.]

Today marked the fourth day of the refugees relocation and the awkwardness and discomfort had finally subsided. Everyone knew everyone in their groups but were somewhat distant from the others by only occasionally interacting with each other. Still the owners of the households made it a point to keep in touch and keep each other updated. One thing was clear, everyone was stressed thanks to the recent events and with little they could do to satisfy any of it they were in a slump.

"I think that's an awesome idea, you asked Lisa yet?" Remmie asked over the phone to Petunia.

"Not yet, I'm going to after" Petunia responded.

"Alright, is everyone going over at your end?" Remmie asked.

"Yep, they all seem interested" said Petunia "you should check to see who's interested on your end Remmie, call me back when you've got it I need to see what Lisa's going to do."

"Alright, see you Petunia" Remmie said.

"See you Remmie" Petunia replied.

Remmie hung up the phone and entered the living room, lately everyone has found themselves in here just to hang out.

"Hey guys, Petunia and I were thinking of taking everyone out for the day, so who's coming?" asked Remmie.

"I'm in Rem, where are we going?" asked Chunky.

"Well first we're going to the carnival, then tonight we're going to the buffet that opened up last week" Replied Remmie.

"Say no more Remmie I'm definitely in" declared Chunky quickly.

"Sounds good, I'm coming too" said Midnight.

"Ha, great idea, me too" said Eme.

"I wanna come too" said Twisty excitedly.

"I'm gonna go too" said Trippy.

"Ok, so is it safe to assume that we're all going?" asked Remmie.

The rest responded with a nod except for Twitch who stared off into space. Remmie returned to the phone to inform Petunia. Petunia assured Remmie that Lisa and her band were coming too so it seemed as though nobody was staying behind. Petunia informed Remmie of how they would all meat at the carnival and decided to walk. Remmie agreed and prepared to set out.

As they entered town Chunky noticed Toothy and Flaky sitting on a bench. Toothy looked disappointed as Flaky seemed to be trying to talk with him. When Remmie turned to see what he was looking at he seen it too and grew concerned as he and Chunky approached him.

"Hey Toothy, something wrong?" Chunky asked.

"Hey guys, not really" he responded "it's just been so dull around here without Cuddles."

"You guys still haven't been able to contact him?" Remmie asked.

"No, I haven't even seen him at his house, nobody in town's seen him either" said Toothy.

"Well if you two want we're spending the day at the carnival if you want to come" requested Remmie.

Flaky looked like she did and Toothy dragged himself up from the seat.

"Yea, I guess, I'm not doing anything else" said Toothy.

They continued on down town.

"How's the water analysis coming?" asked Remmie to Twitchy.

"Well I have found something. The water consistency seems to change as I keep studying but that's probably just due to rain so not much so far" she responded.

"I see" said Remmie, he felt somewhat bad for her since she had worked the better part of a day on it… but he figured it would have been nothing compared to her other studies.

"So Trippy, if you're a fox and Twisty's a raccoon how are you sisters, did you adopt her or something?" asked Midnight.

"Yea, we did" said Trippy, something related to this thought seemed to trouble her.

Twisty hugged her stuffed animal tightly as she seemed to recall a similar memory. Midnight noticed this and decided not to talk about it anymore.

Just ahead stood their destination, it seemed that Lisa's group was the first to make it but Petunia had yet to arrive.

"Hey Remmie, it's great to see that you all could make it" said Lisa.

Twitch looked around and charged into the carnival.

"You gonna go after him" Lisa asked.

"No" said Remmie.

Lisa's group looked very much like Remmies except for Glitter who had brought his circus ball and backpack, he looked like he was there to perform. He scoped over Remmie's group to see who was there but when his eyes locked onto Twisty his heart began to race and he looked around rapidly. He chose to slink behind the others in his group and hide behind his circus ball. Twisty never noticed him.

"See Keni I knew it was going to explode" said Kurt as Petunias group approached them. Kurt and Keni had chars on their faces.

"It's probably because you kept fidgeting with it" Keni rebuttaled, she had Silver in her arms.

"I didn't do anything, I thought I was starting to get something" said Kurt.

"What happened to you two?" asked Thorn.

"Keni tried to make a radio that could intercept military transmissions" said Kurt.

"And, Kurt, it could also allow you to listen to music broadcasting anywhere in the world, don't try to explain it if your going to leave most of it's capabilities out" Keni said.

"Yea whatever, look, the fact is it'd make a better bomb than a radio, or maybe that was just one of those 'applications' you were talking about" said Kurt.

"C'mon guys stop your fighting we made it, let's go" said Bubble excitedly.

Everyone stared at the theme park that had changed hands numerous times in the past. Lumpy's management was the shortest lived of them all. Everyone made their way to the rotating bars that marked the entrance once inside the park everyone went their own separate ways. Remmie, Chunky, Flaky, and Toothy formed a group. Lisa, Petunia, and Thorn formed another. Thorn was doing what she could to avoid Rose… almost against her will. Rose, Alexis, Keni, Kurt, Andy, and Thunder formed yet another group. Twisty and Trippy went off on their own. Twitchy, Torch, and Bubble formed a group and the rest took off by themselves.

"So which one first?" asked Remmie.

Everyone looked around but Toothy was the first to speak.

"Roller coaster" he said pointing to it.

Flaky had her sights set on a slow train ride but all of them headed off to the roller coaster before she could say anything so she followed. At the base of the ride everyone stared up watching the carts speed by with it's occupants screaming.

"Alright last one in line's an old tree gnome that's stunted and can't learn spells past level two" said Chunky running to the line. As it was he was easily passed by Toothy and Remmie while Flaky stared in horror at the ride.

"Hey you guys wait up" she called out when she realized that she was by herself.

Elsewhere in the park Glitter was setting up his ball to perform his routines for tips. He set up his jar a little in front of his ball and began to balance on one foot and juggle. A couple carnival goers passed by and watched Glitter. They dropped some money in the jar before leaving and Glitter smiled. In the distance peering from behind a food kiosk was Lifty and Shifty grinning at Glitter's jar. They looked at each other and snickered and began to formulate a plan.

Before it was completed however Lifty noticed Eme on her way to the kiosk.

"Shh, quiet Shifty here she comes" said Lifty.

"Here who comes?" asked Shifty.

"Eme, quick, how do I look?" Lifty asked.

"Since when do you care how you look?" asked Shifty.

"Look, I don't want to look like a rag bag around her" he said brushing his fur with his hands.

"Well you'd look better with a fedora, but shouldn't you be more focused on the money?" Shifty asked.

"Later" said Lifty.

"Hey Lifty!" said Eme excitedly making Lifty jump.

"Oh, hey Eme, what's up?" Lifty asked.

"Spending the day at the carnival" Eme said expectantly.

"Cool umm… you… Wanna spend the day with me then?" asked Lifty.

"Of course" said Eme happily.

"Awesome!" Lifty said excitedly and whispered an excited "Yes" to himself.

"Hmm… what do I want… I think I'll get a candy apple" said Eme reaching into her coin purse to get some money.

"I- I- I'll pay for it" said Lifty happily taking out some of his money and placing it on the counter. Shifty couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Elsewhere Twitchy, Torch, and Bubble stood before a milk bottle toppling game at Bubble's request.

"Twitchy, Torch, can you win me that. I want the big giraffe up there" said Bubble.

As it was Ansom and Araya also happened to pass by.

"Oooh Araya wants that big giraffe big brother" said Araya pointing.

Ansom looked at the giraffe and found that it was the only one left. he approached the counter and found that it was Russell operating the game.

"Ah, hello again Twitchy" Russell said as she also approached the game "how you be do'n with those water samples you found?"

"Hey Russie, they're coming along good, how's your boat, is it sea worthy yet" said Twitchy saying 'sea worthy' with a pirate accent.

"Aye she is and I've already been haul'n in the bounty o' the sea" Russell said "so looks like ye all be want'n the same booty, but looks like all but one has been plundered, first one ta knock down yer stack o' bottles will get the giraffe, so who's up, you lassie?"

"Oh no I'm not throwing, but Torch will" said Twitchy.

"I will?… alright, I take it you will be too Ansom?" Torch asked.

Ansom nodded and took position before the counted. He and Torch laid down their money and were given three balls. They looked at one another with passion in their eyes as they competed for the giraffe and began to throw.

Glitter was still performing on his ball and had made a decent amount of money he stared into the air as he was now juggling six balls when he heard the jingle of more money entering the jar. He turned his attention to the jar only to notice Twisty had been the one who dropped the last tip. He immediately panicked and fell off of the ball dropping his juggling balls all around himself. He clamored to his feet and began to hastily pick up the balls that had scattered around him keeping an eye on twitchy all the while. He swung his backpack over his shoulders and grabbed his circus ball that had bumped against Twisty and fled.

Twisty tilted her head confused and noticed that he had left his tip jar behind.

"Hey Glitter you left your jar!" she shouted but he continued to run, occasionally falling over.

Twisty felt that she should bring him his tip jar and pursued him shouting his name to get his attention as Trippy followed behind. Eventually Glitter tripped again and turned to see Twisty standing over him.

"Here's your jar Glitter" she said handing it to him.

Glitter was breathing heavily as Twisty and Trippy took off.

Remmie and his group were reaching the end of their roller coaster ride and had a photo taken. When they re oriented themselves flaky dashed to the garbage can to vomit.

"Ha! That was amazing!" shouted Toothy "Hey, let's go see how out picture came out. They hurried to the monitors and looked at their photo's. Remmie sad at the front of his car and almost looked like he was in his berserk state. Chunky looked horrified but not nearly as much as Flaky. Toothy was laughing hysterically during the ride and it was all around worth keeping so Remmie purchased it.

Keni was nearby that ride examining it's structure to the dismay of the rest of the group.

"What the hell are you even doing Keni?" asked Kurt.

"Looking for inspiration, I love the structure of these rides, maybe I can come up with something to tweak their performance and make my own awesome amusement park rides" said Keni.

"Whatever, do what you're going to do, I don't even want to be here" said Thunder.

"Oh c'mon Thunder, don't be a party pooper, let's go on the ride. I don't want it to be our fault that these guys can't enjoy the park" said Alexis.

"Hey, I won't let some downer ruining my day, I'm going" said Rose.

"Yea I'm with you Rose, let's go" said Andy.

"Damnit Keni their leaving without us, do whatever the hell it is you're doing later" said Kurt.

"Alright… let's go everyone!" she shouted excitedly almost like it was her own idea.

"Yea, good idea" said Kurt with annoyed sarcasm.

All six including Thunder got in line just as Remmie and them left.

"Alright, so how about some food" requested Chunky.

"We're going to a buffet after this, don't you want to save room?" asked Remmie.

"Yea… but just a snack, I want fried dough" said Chunky.

"Oh yea, that does sound good" said Remmie "Alright, anyone else want fried dough?"

"I do" said Toothy eagerly.

"Sure, I want some too" said Flaky who also wanted to get the taste of vomit out of her mouth.

Remmie and Chunky approached the kiosk to order while Flaky and Toothy took seats with Lisa, Petunia, and Thorn.

"Where have you guys been?" Thorn asked.

"Roller coaster!" Toothy responded excitedly "I've gotta say though, it's weird to have almost the entire crew here but missing Cuddles, still, I can't wait for the buffet later."

"Yea, I thought a break would do us some good with all that's happened lately, takes some of the edge off" said Petunia.

"So where have you guys been?" toothy asked.

"I won a stuffed cat" said Thorn with a tone that pointed out the irony of her being a cat as well.

"We went on the tea cups, me and Thorn got it spinning so fast I thought Petunia was gonna barf all over us" said Lisa.

Petunia gave her an evil look.

"Hey, that beats our record, Flaky here did puke, ha, at least she waited until after the ride" Toothy joked.

Flaky felt somewhat embarrassed.

"Here's your stuff" said Remmie and Chunky in unison as they handed them their fried dough. All of their dishes had cherries except for Toothy who had strawberries.

Remmie looked up from the table at the Ferris wheel to see Eme and Lifty riding with ice cream. Eme noticed Remmie from below and waved. Remmie smiled and waved back.

"Hey, how about before we go we get everyone together and we go to the tunnel of love" Suggested Toothy.

"Ah, the tunnel of love really aint my thing" said Lisa.

"C'mon, it'd be easy, it's just inside the entrance, when everyone goes by to leave we drag em' over to join us" suggested Toothy.

Chunky was beginning to open up to this idea as he looked over at Petunia.

"Umm… I think it's a good idea" said Chunky quickly and glancing away from Petunia.

"Ah, don't encourage him" said Lisa.

"What's wrong, I don't see the problem. I think it sounds kind of fun" said Thorn.

"Ok all in favor?" asked Toothy

Toothy, Chunky, Remmie, and Thorn raised their hands. Moments later Petunia also raised her hand as did Flaky.

"You guys can't be serious" said Lisa but she did think that it could be interesting "Whatever, you got me."

"Well alright" said Toothy "can't wait."

At the milk bottle game Torch and Ansom were on round five and had yet to win. The two found themselves with a single ball left each. They took hold and took aim. this time it was well calculated nobody wanted to have to pay for another game. They looked into each others eyes and could feel their determination. They concentrated on the throw and tossed. Finally one of the milk bottle pyramids collapsed and named Torch the victor.

"Congratulations Torch ya finally won… here ya go Ansom, for your troubles" said Russell handing the large giraffe to Torch and giving a smaller one to Ansom.

"Well, here you go Araya, sorry I couldn't get you the big one" said Ansom.

"Thanks big brother!" Araya said excited as she hugged it. Ansom was glad that she appreciated it.

"Yay, you got one to Araya" said bubble happily as everyone took their leave.

The rest of the carnival trip was like this. Lilith and Midnight spent most of their time playing gun games in the arcade while Tiny and Twitch found themselves being kicked off of rides and playing around on the tracks of them. Places like this weren't in Dubble's taste so he mostly just skulked around, he seemed bothered when he noticed Twitchy talking with Russell.

As it grew late The seven who had planned it stood near the tunnel of love and gathered their groups outside of it. Eventually everyone was rallied outside of the tunnel.

"Alright, we've decided to end our trip with a run through the Tunnel of love, so everyone, pair up" Remmie announced.

Nobody seemed to object, at least not out loud. They began looking for partners, some seemed legitimately interested while others didn't seem to care at all.

Chunky sidled up to Petunia.

"Umm… you wanna go in with me?" asked Chunky scratching the back of his neck.

Petunia glanced at him for a moment.

"Eh, alright" said Petunia no so enthusiastically, maybe just to make him happy, he definitely looked it.

Bubble was looking for Flaky but Araya approached him first.

"Hey Bubble, do you want to come with Araya and big brother" Araya asked.

This put Bubble on the spot, he really liked Flaky and wanted to use the opportunity to talk to her but he didn't want to upset Araya. He looked around to notice Flaky talking with Remmie and figured that they were probably agreeing to partner up for this anyway.

"Oh, alright Araya" said Bubble

"Hey, hey midnight, you wanna go with me?" asked Tiny.

Midnight stared him deeply in the eyes.

"Not on your life bud" she responded.

"Awe, damnit, Lisa, how about you?" he asked.

"I don't think so" Lisa replied.

"Flaky, how about you then?" he asked eagerly.

Flaky looked nervous as she was currently not going with anyone but did not want to go with him. Flaky glanced around and stared at Remmie with pleading eyes.

"Uhh, oh yea, she's with me" said Remmie quickly to save her from that Tiny terror.

"Ah, god damnit!" he shouted as he had to keep searching

Lifty looked nervous, his day had been going well but he was about to take Eme with him on a ride designed to be romantic, would she go with him.

"So umm… you don't umm… already have a partner for this ride do you?" Lifty asked almost stalling.

"C'mon Lifty say what you're gonna say" said Eme with a smile.

"Well… you wanna go in with me?" Lifty asked.

Eme grabbed him by the hand and dragged him into the line. Lifty thought he was going to faint.

"Hey Kurt, this is your chance to be with Pets" said Andy.

"Drop it, I don't like Pets" said Kurt "besides, Chunk's go her anyways."

"What!" shouted Twitch as he over heard this.

"What the hell's the matter with you?" asked Kurt.

Twitch growled and locked his evil twitching eyes on Chunky and began to pace around in some bizarre display of rage.

"Anyways, I wouldn't think Chunks would be enough to stop you from getting a girl" said Andy.

"Hell no!" shouted Kurt.

"Well what's the problem then?" Andy asked.

"Nothing, forget about it!" shouted Kurt "sides, there's plenty of girls here to pick from."

"If you say so" said Andy.

"Hey Twitchy, you with anyone?" asked Dubble.

"Well me and Torch were gonna go, I really wish Russell wasn't working though, he's such a cutie, Handy would be fun to go with too" said Twitchy.

Dubble seemed to be annoyed with this.

"seriously, what's the big deal with stumps and nubs" he asked.

"Cuz they're cuties" said Twitchy.

"You just love the cripples dontchya?" asked.

"What's it matter to you, and by the way I think Remmie's cute cuz of how clueless he can be and how he reacts when bad things happen. So no it's not because they're crippled, it's because they're fun, even Chunky can be fun. I don't think I'd go out with him but his nerd talk and how he always wants food is funny" Twitchy explained.

"Whatever" said Dubble coldly and he walked off.

Lisa looked around, she didn't want to be with anyone who would take this seriously… or even pretend to. She looked around and noticed Glitter standing around timidly.

"Hey Glitter, wanna partner up?" Lisa asked.

Glitter looked at her surprised.

"Umm… ok" he said.

When all was said and done most of them had found themselves a partner. Alexis and Thunder were partners as were Twisty and Trippy. Dubble was able to partner up with Lilith, if only so they could argue with each other. Rose decided to stick with Keni and Silver. When Bubble realized that there was a two person limit (excluding Silver) he decided to partner up with an idle Thorn. This however left Kurt and Andy without any partners as Toothy asked Midnight and she accepted..

"Damnit, Andy, are you sure you didn't come across anyone"?" asked Kurt.

"Hey, I wasn't supposed to get you a partner. I told you to get Petunia when you had the chance, you didn't need to let pride take over" said Andy.

"Hey, I don't see you with anyone" said Kurt.

"Bad luck on my part, looks like everyone partnered up quickly… so looks like it's just you and me" said Andy.

"Hell no, people will get the wrong idea!" exclaimed Kurt.

"No one's gonna get the wrong idea Kurt" said Andy "I just think it's hilarious."

"Fine, whatever" said Kurt.

Some were even less lucky, those being Twitch and Tiny who never found a partner and decided to go solo.

The first group to load up was Twitchy and Torch who were also the first to notice that giggles and Reuger were running the ride. Just behind them was Dubble and Lilith. Then came Lifty and Eme. Behind them was Remmie and Flaky who were followed by Glitter and Lisa.

When Glitter boarded he had to leave his stuff behind and as he entered he turned his head to make sure his ball was still in place before the wall cut him off. Twitch noticed this, he had been contemplating attacking Chunky and taking Petunia into the tunnel but he changed his mind to pissing off Glitter. After Chunky and Petunia entered their boat Twitch grabbed Glitter's ball, cut in line and jumped into the boat behind them to keep an eye on Petunia.

The next group was Alexis and Thunder who Alexis practically had to force to come

"Why do you see the need for me to do these things?" asked Thunder as there boat slowly entered the tunnel.

"You need to liven up, give phoenix clan a good name" Alexis said, though it's only been noticed a couple Times by others Thunder could tell her determination by her color changing eyes.

"Alexis, we're a band of mercenaries, people hire us because we get shit done, not because we're good people" Thunder said.

"Would it hurt us if we were?" Alexis asked.

Next was Twisty and Trippy followed by Rose and Keni. Behind them was Thorn and Bubble. After them was Araya and Ansom followed by a lone Tiny with his chainsaw as his partner. The final groups were Midnight and Toothy then Kurt and Andy.

"Hey Chunky, how you doing!" shouted Remmie.

"Umm… it's good!" Chunky shouted back.

"Hey, where's Toothy, I told him to get in behind us!" Shouted Remmie "Toothy!"

"I'm here Remmie, Midnight wouldn't move to the front so I'm near the back, just in front of Kurt and Andy!" shouted Toothy, he couldn't be seen but his echo could be heard.

"Ok, hey Toothy!" Remmie shouted.

"Hey Remmie!" Toothy shouted back "Hey Chunky!"

"Hey Toothy!" Chunky shouted.

"Hey Flaky" Toothy shouted.

Flaky was silent, she was a bit too timid to yell back.

"Flaky says hey!" shouted Remmie.

"Hey what's everyone shouting about!" shouted a voice, it sounded like Eme.

"Hi Eme!" Remmie shouted.

"Hi Remmie!" Eme shouted back.

Just behind Remmie and Flaky sat Lisa and Glitter who had just been listening to the conversation, other than that they were just enjoying the ride. Twitch who had been staring at Petunia the entire time could finally see Glitter in the boat just in front of Petunia's. he grinned and pounded on the ball trying to get Glitter's attention. Glitter did hear it and turned his head to the familiar sound to see Twitch with his arm around the ball.

"Gimme that back!" shouted Glitter as he clamored out of the boat into the water.

Twitch began to make out with it as Glitter charged through the shallow water at him. Glitter climbed onto the boat surprisingly fast and shoved Twitch into the water. He then retrieved the ball and hurried back to his boat with Twitch behind him. Glitter rolled his ball onto his boat and quickly climbed on himself. When Twitch tried to climb on as well he was met with Lisa's heal to his forehead knocking him unconscious and he began to float with the current with his psychotic look plastered on his face. Glitter breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Miss Lisa" said Glitter relieved.

"No problem Glitter" Lisa said sitting back down.

"Hey Keni, you said that that shelter of yours was 2.0, I'm not much of a scientist but don't you name things like1.0 and 2.0 in the order that you make them, I've just been curious, what happened to your 1.0." Rose asked to Keni.

"Oh yea, well 1.0 was actually smaller than the 2.0 model, just sort of a rough design, I didn't really refine it too much" Keni started "well Robby volunteered to try it out and spent the night in it… it sort of… blew up, apparently something to do with me putting too many of the electronic components near the heating system. All that was left of him was a piece of his ear… wonder how he is now."

Rose felt Keni's fear. Whenever she even thought about her friends she adopted this same tone, it was clear that despite whatever they did her friends were always just one thought away from her mind. Keni's story reminded Rose of her own desperate search.

"Keni… if you wanna know… I'm looking for someone too" she said in spite of her desire to keep it to herself.

"Really, who?" Keni asked.

"Well, I don't really wanna say… I've been searching for a while" Rose said.

Thorn overheard this and slunk down into her seat.

"What's wrong?" asked Bubble.

"Oh umm… nothing" said Thorn.

"So what did you and your friends do before going to Birch Tree Town?" Rose asked.

"Oh, well we were sort of like a team, we were together most of the time" Keni started "Each of us had our own skills to contribute to whatever it was we were doing at the time, it was usually me and Robby running the show while Laurel and Ayb were our assistants. Silver here didn't come along until about three years ago and based on his success we were able to use the same process to make another for Laurel and Ayb. For this one we used chinchilla DNA as a catalyst and I think we settled on calling her Nicky… wonder how it turned out. For most of these experiments though we had to come here to Happy Tree Town to ensure that we'd come back if anything went wrong" Keni explained.

Behind Thorn and Bubble was Tiny who really hadn't shut up through most of the ride and proceeded to chainsaw off the head of the swan boat he was in. behind him was Kurt and Andy who had both fallen asleep. Kurt slept with his arms propped up on the back of his seat and his head back while Andy's head had accidentally dropped onto Kurt's lap.

Towards the front of the boat sat Lilith and Dubble. Nearing the end of the ride she dipped her hand into the water and drank some.

"Seriously, do you even know what's in that water?" Dubble asked.

"Well, tastes and smells like chlorine and it's pretty clear so I guess they filter it" Lilith replied.

When she looked over the side of her boat she seen Twitch's unconscious body drift by before he returned to his senses.

"Ah damnit, I'd have never drank it if I knew that that thing was float'n around in it" Lilith said.

The ride came to it's close and everyone began to disembark. It had turned out that midnight had fallen asleep as well. When the final boat made it's pass almost everyone began to crack up at seeing Kurt and Andy asleep in that way.

"Awwe how cute" said Twitchy which stirred Kurt.

"Huh, what is it over he said glancing around with waking eyes "Aww damnit, Andy get the hell off me!"

Kurt threw Andy's head off of his lap, waking him.

"What, what happened?" asked Andy quickly looking around.

"You fell asleep on me ya freak" said Kurt.

"Seriously… in my dream my head was on umm… I think it was Flaky's lap… must have made a subconscious connection… anyways that's hilarious" said Andy as he climbed off of the boat.

"Whatever just go" growled Kurt.

"So how was it" Reuger asked.

"Probably could have been a little less noisy but apart from that it was relaxing" said Petunia.

"Sooo… any chance we could get back together?" asked Chunky to Petunia.

She glanced at him and said nothing.

"Oh man, that's either a yes or a really cold no" said Chunky.

"Just think of it as a maybe" said Remmie.

"So Giggles, you're not off for the night are you?" Petunia asked.

"actually Reuger and I were off a little before you guys showed up but we kept it going for you, so we're free now. why, you doing something?" she asked.

"Yes actually, we were going to that new buffet, you and Reuger wanna come?" Petunia asked.

"Sure, I would, I'll just check with Reuger and see if he wants to" said Giggles.

With that Giggles asked Reuger and he agreed to come too. Afterwards the group left the park and made their way to the buffet.

Inside they found that Handy was working as a waiter and brought them to their seats which required them to pull up a number of tables. After ordering their beverages they went to the tables to gather their food. The most notable platters were Remmies and Chunky's which had an awkwardly high pile of food atop them. As it was Lifty had also come with them to the buffet. He had attempted to workup the courage to Kiss Eme in the tunnel of love but it had ended before he managed to.

"Hey you guys, thanks for tak'n me with you today, I've just been so bored lately, just not as much fun to play anything without Cuddles around" said Toothy.

"No problem said Petunia, if you didn't go who would midnight have gone into the tunnel of love with, Kurt" she said.

"It'd have been better than Andy" said Kurt.

"Hey, anyone else seen this?" asked Reuger returning to the table with a poster in his hand and laying it out "looks like coin's coming to town."

"Really?" asked Twitchy as she picked up the poster.

"Coin's coming!" said Chunky with a mouthful of food "when, I can't wait, he's hilarious."

"If you want I could probably get us all free tickets" said Twitchy.

"Awesome, I've heard he was coming but I didn't know when, I don't think I've missed a show yet… around here anyway" said Reuger.

Reuger began reciting his favorite comedy routines preformed by Coin as did chunky before they found themselves performing them together.

The night moved on with small talk and a few rose to get new plates. Twitch was one of them and he approached a counter. On it was something that stuck out to him, a dish with a peanut warning label on it. He inspected the dish to find that the peanut product was in the sauce and gave a wide grin. He glanced around and noticed the two he was hoping to see getting new plates. He took some of the dish and walked casually over to Remmie. When he turned his attention away from his dish Twitch splattered some of the sauce on top of his food and walked off. Flaky was returning to her seat and he snuck up to her.

"Hey Flaky, can you tell me who made that painting over there?" Twitch asked.

Flaky looked to where he pointed.

"What painting?" she asked as he splattered a little of the sauce on her plate.

"Oh, never mind" he said grinning and returning to his seat.

Remmie and Flaky took their seats as Twitch waited excitedly and laughing to himself that drew some attention. He stopped as a result but began to shake with anxiety as he awaited the events that would inevitably unfold. After watching Chunky and Reuger perform another joke Remmie and Flaky raised their food to their mouths and ate. Moments later the inevitable occurred to Remmie and Flaky's shock they felt that familiar purple rash popping up all over them and their lips swelled. Unfortunately nobody noticed thanks to Chunky and Reuger until it was too late and Remmie and Flaky bloated up knocking over the others like dominos. Things could only grow worse however as the sudden sound of crashing dishes and falling chairs startled Reuger who accidentally sprayed everyone within range, mostly Chunky who vomited up the meal that he had just eaten as a result.

Reuger wanted to die but he had to attempt to resolve the situation, he hurried over to the immobile Remmie to attempt to move him away from the burning fumes. Meanwhile Twitch reveled in the chaos he had created and decided to spice things up even more after seeing Twisty who had escaped the fumes.

"You know Reuger!" he shouted "I heard taking a bath in strawberry jam works wonders on the smell of skunk spray."

Upon hearing those words Twisty dropped her stuffed animal and the whites of her eyes turned red. Her eyes began to dart around the room until they locked onto Glitter who had also heard those words and looked straight at her and had now begun to flee. Twisty looked around and noticed a steak knife on the table which she grabbed and began pursuing Glitter with.

"No Miss Twisty no, leave me alone!" Glitter shouted as he fled from her but she kept right on him.

Reuger noticed this while trying to drag Remmie to safety. He reached into a slit in his headband and drew a dart that he uncovered. He tossed it at her but Twitch ended up getting in the way by accident and dropped to the floor tranquilized. Glitter Tripped and backed himself up against a wall.

"No Miss Twisty stop!" he shouted.

Just as she was about to plunge the knife into Glitters chest Reuger had pulled another dart and stuck her in the neck knocking her out immediately and causing her to drop right in front of Glitters feet.

Glitter breathed heavily and finally sighed with relief. He was alarmed however that he now felt wet and was afraid that she had gotten him. He looked down and instead of seeing his fur stained red it was stained yellow as he realized that he had peed himself.

Lilith had backed away from the fumes and turned only to realize that she was staring at herself. She gasped and backed up tripping over a table. When she stood up she lifted a chair that she hurled at the mirror she had stared into and shattered it with a satisfying smash.

Reuger had finally managed to pull Remmie away from the fumes and turned his attention to Flaky who it seemed Lisa and Petunia were able to help. Now however Petunia was breathing into a paper g and looked horrified. Reuger could tell by her damp fur that he had sprayed her. Fortunately the worst of the chaos seemed to subside as an ambulance arrived that had been summoned by Twitchy. Reuger looked around to see that everyone besides the people he tranquilized were rising to their feet, some in anger while others in relief, that aside they knew that their next trip was the hospital.

Everyone had gathered in the waiting room, it was late and everyone was getting tired. The spray victims were allowed to wash themselves off in the hospital showers although petunia was given her own as she would take a while. Even Glitter was allowed to wash after his accident while the others waited for Flaky and Remmie to get out of the hospital room.

"Hey Reuger, would you mind if I studied that weapon of yours?" Keni asked eagerly

Reuger blushed and didn't respond.

"That's some pretty brutal stuff, maybe I can figure out how to turn it into a weapon, you'd just have to spray I into a jar for me" Keni said.

Reuger really didn't want to have this conversation.

"You don't need me, just ask another skunk" said Reuger.

"I don't think the effects have ever been as potent as yours" said Keni.

For Reuger this was beyond awkward.

"Mine's no different" said Reuger trying to end it.

"C'mon, I don't want to have to scare it out of you" said Keni.

Reuger grew nervous, she wouldn't dare… would she. Fortunately for him Remmie and Flaky emerged from the room back to normal aside from the sickly facial expressions.

"Let's just go" said Remmie heading to the foyer.

The trip home was full of small talk about what happened today and for a perfect end to the day… or at least the best they could do given the circumstances they chose to pass through the park in the center of town. In the distance however they noticed an anomaly and moved to investigate. It was something none of them had seen there before and it made them wonder when it was placed there or what significance it was. They walked around it and looked at it from the front only to have their almost perfect day dragged down with this horrific sight.

The object they were staring at was a large wooden crucifix with what appeared to be a large white rose growing from the base. At the top however was the body. It was the body of an unrecognizable tree friend with the rose that had wrapped around the base ending by wrapping around the creature's ankles. Around each wrist it had another white rose. It's head was turned up at an almost 90 degree angle and sticking from it's mouth, extending to above the structure was another large white rose larger than the others.

"Just what the hell is this" asked Kurt bewildered while everyone else was struck speechless.

[And that's chapter 10 hope y'all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Also i hope my crucifix usage doesn't offend anyone, sorry if it does. anyway that aside, looks like all that's left is reviews, so do what you're gonna do so long all.]


	11. Looking to the Sky

[welcome back, for the record I did cave and let Bubble keep the giraffe and about wherein the world twitchy is… definitely my room except for the drugs, drugs are bad mmkay you shouldn't do drugs (A public service announcement from Kalgante… and south park). anyway lets go]

Yesterday's disturbing sight was still fresh in Everyone's minds it was the second known death to occur since their time of peace began… using the term loosely. However it would not slow down the day, for the most part the rest of yesterdays events were still a hot topic, particularly Eme talking about her date. Twitch was still recovering from the tranquilizer. Flaky stayed overnight again and was playing videogames with Chunky before Remmie was even awake. Twisty was also recovering from the tranquilizer and was being tended to by her sister. Trippy hated seeing her sister in her murderous state and Twitch's actions continued to bother her. Tiny was inside raiding the fridge and Twitchy was again inspecting her water samples.

"Anyone have any idea what that was all about yesterday" said Midnight, who found herself intrigued by what she had witnessed. She was however the only one with any interest in talking about it.

"Well, it was pretty nasty" replied Tiny entering the room.

Midnight didn't really respond.

"Damn, how much crazy shit's gonna happen around here. Flood, houses burning, giant rabbit guy, now this… you guys sure that the curse or whatever is gone?" the panther asked.

Again, nobody responded.

"You know what, you guys can't just sit around and pretend that things are peaceful, sure the crazy death rate dropped in this town but it's obvious that it was just replaced… maybe with something even worse" Midnight explained.

Chunky paused the game.

"We know Midnight… but just what can we do? We don't even have a clue about what this is all about" said Chunky "besides, this stuff has all been a one time deal, I haven't seen that rabbit guy since. Trust me Midnight, I've looked into it, I haven't dropped the possibility that something messed up is going on but there's just nothing we can do now."

Midnight was silent. She found herself dissatisfied with Chunky's answer, but that's because she knew that he was right. Her stomach growled and she decided to make herself breakfast, she could only wonder.

Everyone in Petunia's house was already awake as Torch entered Keni's shelter.

"How's she doing Keni?" torch asked.

"Well, she's asleep right now, she doesn't seem as timid now though. Maybe she'll start taking care of herself for a change, well… at least as much as she can, she can be pretty stubborn" Keni replied looking at silver who had been sleeping nest to her in her bed.

"Wonder how she got here anyway, didn't you say you were separated in the flood?" Torch asked.

"Yea, honestly no matter what I try I can't make sense of it" said Keni "there's no way my friends could have brought her here or they likely would have stayed. Whoever dropped her off just… dropped her off and left. Not to mention that the letter contained the same ink and handwriting as Petunia's refugee letter. Without a doubt, whoever was in charge of relocating us also dropped Keni off too. The fact that my friends were not there meant that they must have been separated from Silver. So that being the case, how did this person even get Silver?"

Keni's rambling mind left her with a number of new and unanswered questions. Fortunately Keni did not have to get lost in the sea of new questions as Silver began to stir.

"Good morning Silver" Keni said.

Silver looked around, first at Keni, then to Torch, then back to Keni. Keni looked to her with a smile and Silver smiled back.

"How you do'n little lady?" Torch asked with a smile.

Silver stared at him.

"Still quiet?" Torch asked to Keni.

"Looks like it" Keni said disappointed "Still not too quiet to break my components though."

Petunia sat in the living room eating a breakfast hot pocket and heard a knock at the door. She rose up, approached the door, and peered through the peep hole. She was surprised at the figure she seen standing there. She could not recognize the species but it appeared to be some type of fox… maybe a mix of something else and female. Petunia opened the door and found that this creature appeared a lot like an older version of Araya except she had no spikes on her tail, was mostly white aside from her face mask and the area around her mouth which was red. She also had long orange hair and an orange tail as well as black ears. She was also donned in a short blue dress and had separate colored eyes, one blue and one green.

"Hello" said Petunia.

"Hello, forgive my intrusion, my name's Quiki" she said "I've just arrived in town and I've been looking for a couple people. Do you happen to know of two people by the names of Araya and Ansom by any chance?"

"I do actually, what do you want with them?" Petunia asked.

"You do? Please, if you know where they are could you tell me, I'm their mother" Quiki said.

Petunia looked surprised.

"Seriously, well if you'd like I could probably get someone to take you, you might not know the way" said Petunia as she looked into the living room to notice Kurt, Andy and Alexis enter.

"No, it's ok, I'll find it" Quiki said.

"Hey you three, you wanna show Quiki here to Lisa's?" Petunia asked.

"Sure, I'm up for it, hang on a moment" said Alexis hurrying to her pack in the living room.

"Yea, I'll go to, it'll be nice to just take a leisurely walk" said Andy.

"Yea, I'll go to" said Kurt.

Alexis popped a couple of pills into her mouth and followed the others out the door.

"Do you guys know Araya and Ansom well?" Quiki asked as they left the house.

"Eh, a little bit I guess" said Andy "Ansom never talked much and Araya rarely ever talks about herself… I take it you know about Birch Tree Town.

"Yea… I got word a little while before it happened and I grew worried because I knew Ansom and Araya moved there… so why are all of you here?" Quiki asked.

"Same reason Araya and Ansom are" said Alexis "we were given notices a day after the flood and spent a few days preparing. We apparently found ourselves in some sort of refugee program and that's how we found ourselves here. So how did you know that you could find them here?" Alexis asked.

"Well… me and my other two daughters had to do a lot of asking around. We followed a bunch of leads until we found ourselves here. We arrived yesterday and got ourselves situated in a motel" Quiki explained.

"Yesterday huh?" said Kurt.

"Something the matter Kurt?" Andy asked.

"You didn't happen to tie anyone up to a cross with roses did you?" Kurt asked.

"Wha- what!" Quiki asked surprised.

"Seriously Kurt?" Andy asked.

"Yea, not much evidence to got on. Anyways keep on your toes, some crazy shit's been going on lately" said Kurt.

"What do you mean?" Quiki asked concerned.

"Take your pick. Military occupation, giant rabbit monsters, shot in the head by some creepy fuck, or being strung up on a cross with roses." said Kurt.

Quiki looked shocked, she couldn't think of anything to say to this.

"Ah don't let Kurt freak you out, they've all been a bunch of isolated events that haven't occurred but once" assured Alexis.

"Yea well something about all this wreaks" said Kurt "Oh yea, don't forget about the arsonist or whatever the hell destroyed those houses, just saying be careful."

"Don't worry about it too much, we're all in this together" said Andy "What's your name anyway?"

"Quiki" she responded.

"Oh yea, I might have heard your name once or twice from Ansom" said Andy.

"Really… did he say anything about me?" Quiki asked, she seemed a bit nervous.

"No, not that I can Remember" Andy replied.

Meanwhile Remmie was dealing with a similar situation. He heard someone approach the house and opened the tarp. He stared somewhat confused at the creatures he was seeing. They Reminded him of Araya, the major differences were their height, they were fully white and had red eyes. Their most surprising trait however was a pair of wings on each of them coming out of their black dresses.

"Excuse us but do you know where Araya and Ansom are?" they asked.

This started to creep Remmie out as they both spoke in unison.

"Umm… yea, who are you two?" Remmie asked.

"Misery and Sorrow" They replied"

"_Lovely"_ Remmie thought to himself "Umm and who's who then?"

"I'm Misery" they said, the one on the right pointed to herself while the other pointed to her as well.

"I'm sorrow" they said but this time pointing in reverse order.

Remmie was deeply confused.

"Ah… well if you want I could bring you to them" offered Remmie.

"If you would, thank you" they said.

Remmie prepared to leave when Midnight shot up.

"hope you don't mind if I come along too" said Midnight "I've gotta stretch my legs."

"Why did you wait until now?" Remmie asked.

"Well I was gonna later but if you're Go'n out I might as well go now" she said.

"Alright" said Remmie.

"What, you're gong somewhere?" Twitchy asked entering the room.

"Yep, we won't be long though" said Remmie.

"Mind if I come too, I wanted to talk about those water samples with you" Twitchy said.

"Well sure, if you want" said Remmie

The group took off towards Lisa's house. The question on the back of Remmie's mind was why those two always talked at the same time but thought it would be rude to ask.

"So why do you guys always talk at the same time?" asked Midnight.

"It was a result of an experiment in telepathy. They tried to see if they could pair the minds of twins to be able to read each others thoughts. They messed it up however, our brains formed some level of permanent connection. We can't read each others thoughts but when one of us speaks it causes both of or brains to send the same speech impulses, it's almost as if were the same person but we both have our own freewill" the twins explained.

Twitchy and Remmie found themselves intrigued but midnight let most of it flow through one ear and out the other.

"That's horrible, they preformed those kinds of experiments on kids?" Twitchy asked.

"Not really" the twins started "you see we were an experiment ourselves, our entire family aside from our mother and father were part of the same genetic experiment. Our mother has angelic blood that these people were curious about. Our father's genetics were also used as a catalyst so we all have porcupine DNA in us. As well as mothers red panda and fox DNA."

Remmie and Twitchy were still intrigued by this, and it also explained Araya and Ansom's unrecognizable species.

"Oh yes Twitchy, you wanted to tell me something about your water samples?" Remmie asked.

"Oh yea, I think I found something interesting. From what I could get from looking at them through a microscope and a few simple chemical tests it looks like the water starts getting thicker the closer my water samples get to the flood date. There's also something else I can't figure out yet but that's why I'm doing these tests" Twitchy explained.

Meanwhile Quiki's group had just arrived at Lisa's. Kurt knocked on the door.

"Hello" said Lisa opening the door "who's this?"

"Hello Miss I'm Quiki, I'm Araya and Ansom's mother and these three kindly showed me the way to your house. Are Araya and Ansom in?" Quiki asked.

"Yea, I think so. Hey Araya, Ansom, someone's here to see you" Lisa shouted.

The two emerged from the kitchen and looked in Lisa's direction. Araya's face lit up when she seen the smiling face of her mother.

"Mama!" she shouted excitedly as she teared from happiness and wrapped her arms around her mother.

"Hello Araya, have you been a good girl, you haven't been causing trouble for Miss Lisa here have you?" Quiki asked.

"No, Araya's been a good girl" Araya said.

"Good to see you again mom" said Ansom.

Quiki smiled and gave Ansom a hug and he hugged back.

"good to see that you two are alright, my heart sank the moment I heard that Birch Tree Town had flooded, I had to come see if you two were ok, Sorrow and Misery are here to" Quiki said.

"Yea, we made it, so that bastard isn't here to is he" said Ansom.

Quiki knew immediately who he was talking about.

"No, I really have no idea where your father went, I can guarantee he won't take my leaving very well" Quiki said.

"Well he'd better not show up, if he does I promise I won't screw up killing him this time" said Ansom angrily.

"Please Ansom, don't do that" she said.

Part of Quiki had given up on her husband and despised him yet another part still held faith. The children however gave up on him a long time ago.

"He'd better not lay a hand on you or anyone else then" Ansom said.

From outside they heard the sound of a military humvee and hurried out to examine it. Kurt and Andy stood nearest to the road and looked into it. Surprisingly there was only a single person occupying it, Reuger.

"Hey Reuger, where the hell you off to?" shouted Kurt

Reuger slowed down beside him and answered.

"Hey you guys, I'm actually off to meet with Sky in Birch Tree Town, see if I can't negotiate a prisoner release" Reuger said.

"You wanna take me along?" Kurt asked.

"I would but it's better if I meet him on my own, I don't think they cooperate with me much if I start bringing civilians with me" said Reuger.

"Alright then, careful man" said Kurt.

"Yep, see ya" said Reuger as he readied to leave.

Thunder was also attending to business of his own in Lisa's basement when he received a phone call.

"You find something?" Thunder asked.

"Well they've definitely fortified their position, it looks like a real operation here now. There's something else however, we have yet to determine if it's in any way related but we felt you should know. We don't know if it's important or not but it's definitely weird. I really don't know how to describe it but we've been noticing… well this is gonna sound crazy but crosses. Wooden crosses that seem to just appear over night. Again, I don't know if it's relevant but that's all we've got for information" Thunder's contact explained.

Thunder mulled over this briefly. He believed that the crosses these men were seeing were related to the one Thunder had seen last night, as for the army hehad little new information.

"Alright, thank you for your work men, keep an eye out for anything new" Thunder said before hanging up.

He picked up a picture of Alexis he kept on the table and looked at it.

Up stairs Remmie and the others with him had arrived with Misery and Sorrow.

"Yay, big sisters, you came" Araya said happily giving them both hugs.

"Hello Araya, hello Ansom" they said.

"Good to see you two" said Ansom.

"Well if y'all would like to stay I could make us all something to eat" Lisa offered.

"I'll help you Miss Lisa" Glitter offered.

"Oooh Araya wants to help too" Araya said.

"Alright, c'mon then" Lisa said and they followed.

In the kitchen Lisa decided to prepare fried chicken and French onion soup. In front of the soup pot stood Glitter who stirred everything into the soup. He glanced around the room and noticed something in the window. He stared but whatever it was jolted away when it felt Glitters eyes find it. However it also made the sound of multiple objects hitting together as if they were in some sort of pack. This caught Lisa's attention and she approached the window but she could see nothing. Lisa turned her attention to Glitter who looked slightly nervous.

The living room was live with chatter as Quiki discussed how she had gotten to Happy Tree Town. Ansom was also feeling much better. Before it was just him and Araya living in Birch Tree Town, just keeping to themselves. Now everyone he cared about was back in one place.

Suddenly everyone heard a sound at the door before it swung open. There stood a creature that was difficult to recognize. It had a large pair of ears tipped with red orange colorations on it's orange fur. The ends of its feat and tail also bore similar colorations. It wore what appeared to be a straight jacket though was not torn up like Twitch's. it also wore a large pair of red goggles. It's outfit was stained with a strange black substance as was the scythe it had carried with it and a small bag it carried slung over it's shoulder.

"Des war eine holle von einer reise" the creature said while raising it's goggles to it's forehead to reveal a pair empurple colored eyes.

It glanced around the room at the number of people there and grinned as it turned to the kitchen.

"Well now if it isn't Glitter my old pal" said the creature.

Glitters pupils shrank and his heart sank as he recognized the voice.

"Fra- Fra- Jilly" said Glitter nervously.

"What was that!" the creature shouted at Glitter.

Araya became scared and hid behind Lisa.

"I come all this way to see you and you greet me with that! You un grateful little turd!" shouted Jilly "How many times have I told you, never call me Francis!"

Jilly attempted to lunge at Glitter but was grabbed by Kurt and quickly disarmed by the others.

"What are you doing!" Jilly shouted.

It was obvious that this guy was out of control but he seemed somewhat exhausted from whatever he did today. Kurt and Andy pinned him to the floor as Remmie stood over him.

"Out of my way pokey!" Jilly shouted at Remmie.

Remmie kneeled down beside him, brushed his goggles out of the way, grabbed him by the collar of his straight jacket, and pulled his head up to hammer it with his own. Jilly was out cold.

Reuger had finally arrived to his destination. What was once Birch Tree Town was now a fully occupied military stronghold complete with walls made of scrap they must've found in town. Reuger approached a checkpoint at the end of the road that allowed access to the town.

"Name and rank?" asked one of the checkpoint guards.

"Reuger, former field marshal" Reuger said as he grabbed the baton that had been awarded to him as a symbol of his rank and showed it to them.

The men looked at each other. Most soldiers knew of Reuger and was easily recognized. they inspected the baton and could tell of its legitimacy.

"My apologies sir, feel free to enter" said the guard.

"Thank you, may I ask where field marshal Sky is?" Reuger asked.

"Certainly sir, you can find him on the prison barge, you'll need to take a dingy out to him though" said the guard.

"Alright, thank you" said Reuger.

With that he entered. Some of the flooded land had been filled in or covered by docks to make it accessible to vehicles. In the distance he could see a large structure that seemed to be processing the water. Further ahead, out into the sea loomed the prison barge where Sky was to be. Reuger parked his vehicle and began crossing the docks. Reuger was somewhat bothered by the amount of soldiers occupying the place. Tents covered the shore. Whatever they were doing here was serious but he was not here to meddle, he was here to negotiate a prisoner release. He climbed onto a boat with an idle soldier operating it smoking a cigarette. When he seen Reuger he tossed the cigarette into the water and started the boat.

"So how have things been here?" Reuger asked.

"Pretty badly, it's actually been a disaster, the attack we sustained caused all kinds of problems" said the soldier "any particular reason you're here?"

"yep, I'm here to speak with Sky" said Reuger.

The boat reached the barge and Reuger climbed the ladder to reach the deck. Reuger walked along the boat keeping an eye out for the captain's quarters. His eyes were drawn to a large structure on the stern. He opened the door and passed through the room. It was elaborately decorated with blue and red furnishings. Reuger noticed Sky sitting on a couch in front of a coffee table smoking a cigar.

Sky was a blue wolverine with white fur around his mouth and was donned in a military trench coat

"Hello Reuger" he said not raising his eyes to the skunk "Please, take a seat."

Reuger sat down in a chair just across from Sky.

"So, may I ask why you are here?" asked Sky.

"Yes, I'm here to negotiate the release of three civilian prisoners" said Reuger.

The wolverine breathed heavily.

"I don't know if I can do that" said Sky.

"You don't know, how can you not know?" Reuger asked.

Sky laughed.

"You'd be surprised Reuger. Surprised to know how little we know about all this. This operation was FUBAR before it even began." said Sky.

"How so?" Reuger asked.

"Well… there's only so much I can tell you. After the flood command tasked me with getting this operation running" Sky started "started of fairly straightforward, we pulled in for a bit, cased the place, sent samples back to headquarters. We took tallies of who was here and worked to get them relocated. That plan screwed us over when the requisition letters got lost, we didn't even know what happened to the survivors after that, some soldiers claim they made it to Happy Tree Town which was a relief, don't know how though."

"Yes, they did make it to Happy Tree Town… but you're saying your letters got lost. Wonder how Remmie, Lisa, and Petunia got them then." said Reuger.

"What, only three people got them?" Sky asked.

"Yep… why did you set them up with so many refugees though, we've got an entire town of people who could help over there" said Reuger.

"So many, since when did one refugee become too many?" asked Sky.

"One? Sky, Remmie had eight, Lisa and Petunia got seven each" Reuger said.

"What?" said Sky surprised "Reuger we had set one per household, how did they get that many?"

"That's what I'm asking you" said Reuger.

Sky stopped ant thought about this.

"Looks like I've got yet another thing to look into" said Sky frustrated "My subordinates had better not have been responsible for this.

"Sounds like you guys have had all kinds of problems here, what else happened?" asked Reuger concerned.

"Well there was the attack. Hanks to that we also ended up with an information leak now the novices are getting nosey" said Sky.

"What are you even doing here?" Reuger asked.

Sky let out a deep breath.

"Something about the water, after we sent out sample to command they ordered us back here to research it. They disclosed little. Probably because they know so little, they don't even know what it is their looking for." said Sky.

"So why do you need civilian prisoners" Reuger asked.

"Command instructed us to, I'm afraid I can't allow them to leave" said Sky.

"Can you enlighten me?" asked Reuger.

"Believe me my friend, I want to… I want to tell you everything but I'm on thin ice with command, I can't risk being replaced" said Sky.

Reuger could feel the truth in this statement, he and Sky were close. He knew there was no arguing this but he couldn't return after failure.

"Well can you bring me to see the prisoners?" Reuger asked.

"Yes, I can" said Sky, it seemed to bring him some relief as well.

Sky and Reuger took their leave of the captains quarters and moved onto the deck. They traveled along it to another small structure that turned out to be a staircase to the inside. Most of it looked like crew quarters until they descended another flight of stairs to a long series of empty cells. They traveled along the passage with only a handful of guards stationed there. Near the end of the passage Reuger could hear the sound of a baby crying.

"That them?" Reuger asked.

"Yep, that's the kid, out of all of them I wish we didn't have to keep him in here, not just because he cries all the time either… it just isn't right" said Sky.

They continued down the hall to where the crying grew louder. Finally they approached the final cell and Reuger looked in. inside sat a pale blue hippo, a yellow hamster, and on her lap crying was a small orange chinchilla. The cell actually looked fairly comfortable as it seemed Sky had provided them with a generous amount of blankets and pillows

"Well this is them, the hamster's Laurel, hippo's Ayb, and the Chinchilla's apparently Nicky, she was apparently born just a short while before we captured them" said Sky

"So, you ready to let us out now or what?" asked Ayb.

Sky didn't respond, it looked as if saying no was too painful.

"I really don't get you, you won't tell us why we're even in here, you feel bad for us, yet you refuse to let us out" said Laurel

"There's nothing to get, it'd be a mistake for all of us if I let you out" said Sky "you have to trust me."

"Yea somehow trust isn't the first thing that comes to my mind when I look at you" said Ayb.

Reuger couldn't stand seeing his friend being misunderstood yet understood the anger of these people.

"You'll have to trust Sky, he's never steered me wrong before, he would never steer you wrong" said Reuger.

Sky seemed to suddenly be holding back tears, something about what Reuger said hit him hard.

"No Reuger, you're wrong" he said drawing his pistol "I'm afraid that I can't let you leave."

Reuger stared at his friend shocked. Tears seemed to squeeze themselves from his eyes.

"Reuger, you remember what I said about me being on thin ice… well I gave you a lot of information, command's already mad at you for covering for criminals. If anything goes wrong I'll probably be replaced immediately, please Reuger, just cooperate" Sky said, this clearly pained him.

"Ha, told you he couldn't be trusted" said Ayb.

Reuger looked into Sky's eyes.

"Fine, do what you have to do" said Reuger putting hands up.

Reuger heard the gun return to it's holster and Reuger dropped his hands to follow Sky to his cell. This required him to turn into a parallel corridor and follow the cells downward to a cell just on the other side of Laurel, Nicky, and Ayb's. however there was something else, this cell also had a few blankets and pillows and was also occupied. Sky locked the cell behind Reuger.

"I'm sorry" he said as he turned to leave.

Reuger examined his cellmate who appeared to be a Hyena. He wore a black jacket over a green tee-shirt. He also wore a pair of dark grey pants. His fur was tan and he had black stripes. He did not react to Reuger's presence.

"So who are you?" Reuger asked.

The hyena looked at him.

"Military correct?" he asked.

"Yep, I'm Reuger" Reuger said.

"I know" he said.

"So any reason you're here, were you a civilian?" Reuger asked.

"In Birch Tree Town yes, but I doubt that's why they've captured me. The others were here well before I was" he said.

"Well you have a name right?" Reuger asked.

"Paul" said the hyena.

"You seem pretty calm about this" Reuger said.

"Not the first time I've been captured… I'm waiting for my chance" said Paul.

Reuger got the feeling that this guy knew what he was doing and wasn't an ordinary civilian. His accent was Russian and he talked with such an official tone, he was definitely some type of soldier. Reuger had his suspicions.

"KGB then?" asked Reuger.

Paul nodded.

"I need to get out of here" said Paul, something really seemed to bother him, something that even made a trained soldier like him impatient "Reuger, when the moment arises will you be ready?"

Reuger nodded. He had to get out too and when he did, he'd make sure to get the ones in the adjacent cell out as well. His question was when will we get our chance.

[it just seems like Glitter's luck is getting worse and worse huh?… you know what, Reuger's does to. Also, yes Cloud I did get the idea to make Jilly speak a German sometimes from you…it's fun to do, by the way what he said was _that was a hell of a trip _see you all later]


	12. Contents of the Keg

[Well here I am again, writing another chapter from the safety of my padded room. Them guys in white are plotting against me , I know it, but don't worry. I'll get them before they get me. Anyways I'm ready to start so here we go.]

Yet another day had passed as Lisa' group stirred awake. Ansom and Araya's mother and sisters had returned to their motel room for the night. As for Jilly he had awoken a little after the others. whatever he had done yesterday made sure he stayed out after Remmie's head but.

"Damn hedgehog" said Jilly as he sat up from the bed they made for him on the floor.

Everyone in the living room glared at him, they took care of him but due to yesterdays episode, one that occurred immediately upon his arrival, none of them could trust him.

"What the hell do you want" Jilly growled.

Out of everyone Ansom seemed the most worried about him… it was his abilities that led him to feel this way. Ansom stared at the bilby and he stared back annoyed before a strange creeping sensation came over him. Ansom examined him, to his very core. He stared into his very soul. He sensed a great deal of malice… yet it was strange, it felt like a part of him rather than a temporary emotion, it was a part of his very being. Like all creatures however there was still more to this bilby, like malice wasn't all he held. There was other such darkness but still a hint of light shone through.

Ansom declared that the creature was capable of kindness but would be too dangerous to trust for the moment.

"Stop staring at me freak!" Jilly shouted, mainly due to the creeping sensation he felt.

Ansom obliged and turned his attention away from him. Jilly was breathing heavily but a number of other thoughts took his attention. He looked around for his belongings and took notice of them leaning against a wall. He stood up and moved over to them. It was clear that someone had been rummaging through it and he panicked.

"Niemand hatte etwas besser aus meiner tasche genommen haben!" Jilly shouted.

Everyone exchanged glances with one another. Jilly looked to see that nothing had been taken. He stormed over to the group in the living room.

"Who's been dick'n around with my stuff!" Jilly shouted.

"Well… just about all of us, well everyone who was here yesterday" started Dubble "you came in looking like you were ready to kill someone, how would you expect that we not look through your stuff."

"Jilly knew that he was ready to kill this dog but another idea came to mind and he grabbed the dog by the arm who was ready to fight back.

"Come help me with this" ordered Jilly.

Dubble rolled his eyes and followed out of curiosity. Glitter entered the room from his place down stairs to see Jilly leading Dubble out the door and he attempted to back out of the bilby's sight but was caught.

"Hay Glitter, you don't look busy, why don't you come and help poor little Jilly with something huh?" Jilly asked.

Glitter's fear of him made him obey and the three walked out of the house.

"So just what is it that you need my help with?" asked Dubble.

"No idea doggie" Jilly said excitedly "looks like some kind of bomb, I've gotta have it."

"A bomb huh, sounds like just the thing you need, just don't go blowing it up with me around" said Dubble.

"Ha ha, I'd love to blow something up with it but I'm not gonna, at least not yet" said Jilly "I've gotta examine it first, I've never seen one like it."

The three continued on a short distance down the road until Jilly stopped at a large bush and began digging around in it. He then grabbed hold of something and struggled to pull it out.

"Hey lazy bastards, come over here and help me!" Jilly shouted.

Dubble and Glitter obliged and approached the bush. They reached in and grabbed onto a white handle. With great effort they managed to wrench the object out of the bush. They stared in astonishment, it appeared to be a large keg, larger than any of them, Dubble could see why Jilly needed help moving it. fortunately for them it was cylindrical so they could roll in instead of carrying it. Jilly grabbed the wick that protruded from it and rolled it so that Glitter could manage it while pushing. The three struggled to keep this thing moving, fortunately there was only a slight incline that they needed to work against until they finally reached Lisa's house.

After they managed to prop the keg up on the lawn thanks to the help of the others who were dumbstruck by this thing, Jilly began to inspect it.

"Damn, that's a hell of a bomb" said Lilith rather impressed with it "you make this?"

"Not this one, oooh but I can't wait to figure out how to make my own though" said Jilly excitedly.

"Don't tell me you're planning to blow that thing up in my house!" Lisa asked horrified.

"Not now" Jilly responded.

"No, never" said Lisa.

Jilly did not respond, instead he began to climb around on the bomb inspecting it.

"Damnit, too bad I've only got one of these" Jilly said "it's actually surprisingly simple in design, no tickers no wires, absolutely nothing mechanical. just a freaking wick."

Jilly hurried inside and grabbed his scythe then returned to the bomb. He rose it above his head and began striking the side of the bomb.

"What are you doing?" Lilith asked.

"Gotta cut it open" Jilly said still striking at it with his scythe.

"Are you insane… actually never mind, I already know, but don't you think it's a bad idea to cut it open, what if what's in there's gonna blow up when exposed to the air?" asked Lilith.

"It uses a wick so it's probably activated by heat… damnit this isn't working!" Jilly shouted, his scythe failing to puncture the tank.

Thunder stood in the doorway watching him, he was the only one who had not come outside already. He returned to the basement and grabbed his weapon then returned outside.

Everyone watched him as he unfolded his weapon and began to strike the tank with stabs. The sharp blades on his weapon began to effect the tank. He kept at it for about three minutes with the help of Ansom and Jilly's scythes managed to puncture it. They continued to whittle away the casing but whatever was inside of this thing only emerged on their weapon blades. It appeared to be some sort of thick black substance.

"Hey, this stuff kind of looks like that things blood… a lot thicker though" said Jilly.

"What thing?" Thorn asked.

"Hell if I know" said Jilly as he continued to try and open the tank.

"No, I'm not having that stuff leaking all over my lawn, cut it open in the road" Lisa ordered.

Some of the group, mainly the ones working on the tank looked at her and Thunder grabbed hold. With a little help they were able to transport the keg out near to the road.

"Umm won't you get hit by a car?" asked Glitter.

"They'll drive around us, c'mon get this thing open" ordered Jilly, the longer it took to open the more anxious he became.

Thunder was also curious about this bomb, he recalled Kurt mentioning something about it after the incident with the rabbit monster. The three were finally able to create enough of an opening for the contents to ooze out. It was some type of gel… except it was the same color and thickness of tar yet not sticky. Jilly stared at this substance unable to identify it. He stuck his hand into what had oozed out and grabbed a glob of it and threw it onto the road. He then pulled out a match from his straight jacket, lit it and tossed it onto the substance. To his dismay nothing happened.

"What! you can't be serious, what the hell is this crap!" shouted Jilly striking another match and tossing it onto the goop only to receive the same results.

"Well aint that the story of life, all that work to find no results" said Dubble.

Jilly was not convinced that this was all there was to it. He returned to the keg and began to dig some more of the goop out until he came across something else, a layer of powder that had been tightly packed in the bomb. Jilly grabbed a handful of it and sprinkled it over the goop. He then hurried to Lisa's hose and turned it on to wash off the residue on his hands. Jilly eagerly returned to the goop on the road and prepared a match. After a short distance check he felt that it was safe to assume that it would not hit the bomb, everyone stood back however and watched as the match was dropped. After a few seconds the powder combusted ant the goop exploded in a significantly larger explosion than they expected and sent Jilly flying back onto the lawn and knocked off his goggles. He began laughing hysterically.

"Yes yes yes, ha ha, I've gotta learn how to make this!" shouted Jilly ecstatically "quick, get someone who can analyze this stuff."

Thunder was almost as intrigued by this as Jilly was. The first thing on his mind was how this could bolster his mercenaries power.

"Let's get this stuff to Keni" said Thunder.

"Why, who cares about this stuff, what do we need a bomb for anyway?" Lisa asked.

"We don't need a reason, we just need bombs!" shouted Jilly.

Lisa had experienced this allot with these people and knew that there was no changing Jilly's mind.

"Well if you find out how to make these things, just don't be making them in my house ok" Lisa said.

"No promises skunk" Jilly said as he hurried into the house.

"So what interest do you have in a bomb?" Thorn asked to thunder.

"For one reason it'll bolster up my mercs if I can get them supplied with these things. The other reason, well you remember the night everyone at Remmie's house got attacked?" Thunder asked.

"Yea I do, what about it?" Thorn asked.

"Kurt mentioned that whatever that thing was that attacked them used a bomb somewhat resembling a giant propane tank… I think that that's one of those bombs" Thunder explained.

Thorn thought about this and vaguely remembered someone mentioning this.

"I wonder how he found this one then" said Thorn.

"Found it in a bush" said Dubble.

"Why would it be in a bush?" Thorn asked.

"Who knows, sounds like someone placed it there… maybe the rabbit" suggested Dubble.

"Seriously… does that mean there could be more?" Thorn asked.

"Maybe. if he used one on Petunia and them and we found another here then it sounds likely" replied Dubble.

Jilly returned with his pack, a couple of Lisa's plastic containers, and a mouthful of candy and started taking samples of the bomb's components. He then looked around and started down the street.

"Where the hell are you going?" Dubble asked.

"To see Keni you idiot!" Jilly shouted.

"Are ya, yea she's the other way" said Dubble pointing up the street.

Jilly looked around and turned to where Dubble had pointed giving him an evil look as he passed. Dubble remained expressionless. Seeing nothing better to do the group followed behind.

At Qiuki's motel room her and the twins finished with their breakfast.

"Are we going back to Lisa's house" asked Misery and Sorrow.

"If she doesn't mind we might" said Qiuki.

"It's been so long since we seen brother Ansom and sister Araya, do you think they would like to stay in the motel with us?" the twins asked.

"Maybe, we'd have to pay a little extra for them but I'd like to have them back as well… we can be like a family again" said Qiuki.

"You don't think father followed us do you?" asked the twins.

Qiuki looked down.

"Umm… no, no, he might not have, why would he come all this way just to follow us" said Qiuki trying to figure out how to say 'I hope not' in a comforting way.

Despite that the twins knew that their mother had no idea and knowing their father, he'd follow them to the ends of the earth if he had a mind to… Qiuki leaving him without warning for example may be good enough reason.

The three took care of what they needed to and prepared to set out. They opened the door but there eyes were drawn to the deck. Sitting before them was a folded up sheet of paper. Qiuki picked it up and unfolded it. It appeared to be a note in purple writing and she red it aloud.

"Do not request that Araya and Ansom stay with you" it read.

Qiuki looked at the twins who looked back dumbstruck. Qiuki read it again and couldn't believe what it was saying.

"What do you think it means mom?" asked the twins, although they couldn't see anything else it could have meant.

Qiuki said nothing, was this some type of warning? Did someone overhear them and try to pull a prank? Qiuki wanted to have Araya and Ansom stay with them but decided to play it safe and obey the note.

"Let's not ask your brother and sister to stay with us…" said Qiuki.

The twins agreed.

"maybe we should let them know mother" suggested the twins.

"Yes" Qiuki said.

Reuger sat against the cold metal wall of his cell, it had been a while since he stayed on a ship, he only wished that it were under better circumstances that he were doing it now. It was learned quickly that you could hear each other through the wall though it was muffled. Paul had done little and only ever spoke if Reuger discussed business, he was clearly not one for idle chatter. The two in the cell nearby wouldn't shut up however and the baby cried often, it was no wonder why guards rarely went down there. Sky hadn't shown himself since he locked Reuger in the cell bu he seemed to be making sure they were well fed the guards even claimed that the prisoners were better fed than they were.

"So, why'd they lock you up" Reuger asked to Paul.

"Normally I'm not one to talk about my mission… but this isn't a regular mission. I was requested by a man to gather information… I tried to sneak into their facility but I was caught, they took my weapons and wetsuit, left me with the clothes in my back. I wasn't able to find anything of value beforehand. That's all I will tell you" said Paul "Reuger when we get out of here we cannot leave until we've gotten my things back from the contraband room, remember that."

That's when Reuger remembered that they did not take his headband that had his tranquilizer darts in it.

"I might have an idea to get out" said Reuger who took off his headband and handed it to Paul.

Paul felt the darts in it and looked into the small slit.

"These could help… but not now, we need a cover for our escape, they have too many soldiers stationed here for us to make an escape" said Paul. He seemed to know something else.

"What you got a way out, why the hell are you screwing around then!" shouted

Ayb.

By now it was no secret that they wanted to escape, they had been talking about it since they were captured.

"Never mind" said Reuger "We just have to keep waiting."

"You're kidding! We've been here for days and you want to sit around! You've got a plan don't you!" Ayb shouted.

"How did you guys get captured?" Reuger asked to get them off the subject.

"Well if you don't mind listening to the story I'll tell you" said Laurel "Well it started after the flood, we got separated from Keni and it was just the three of us… well four until Silver disappeared. We drifted for a while trying to get to Happy Tree Town but apparently Ayb here put Robby in charge of navigation and we ended up back in Birch Tree Town. Not where we wanted to be but while we were there we decided to go to the lab. It was a complete disaster in there mind you. The worst part was that just about all of our experiments were destroyed. We dropped down to the lower part of the lab and to our surprise there was something there… Nicky. It was strange seeing as how we lost her at some point outside of the lab. Well we were glad we stopped back there but we left shortly after. When we climbed back out of the hatch we found a military patrol boat sitting just outside."

"Yea and you know we wouldn't have even been in this mess if you let me beat their asses" said Ayb.

"Well aside from each of them holding automatic weapons at us you might have stood a chance" said Laurel "anyway they captured us and brought us to their boat… that's when we lost Robby."

"Yea I heard about that, you were attacked by something, do you know what it was?" Reuger asked.

"I wish we did, whatever it was battered us from behind, knocked us clean out. When we came to we were scattered across the boat and Robby was gone, afterwards they just brought us down here and we've been here ever since." Laurel explained.

Reuger found it unfortunate how they weren't able to provide any new information, even in a cell he still had questions that needed answers. If there was anything that troubled him however is that they kept a baby there as well. From outside the cell stood a guard who delivered two trays of food to Paul and Reuger. On the other side another guard did the same for Ayb, Laurel, and Nicky. Nicky started crying.

"Hey, you think you guys could bring us something we can actually feed the baby?" Laurel asked Frustrated.

"Look Laurel" said the guard "At what point do you believe that we have anything here for babies, you're lucky we've even been able to find diapers. This is a prison barge, it's been designed to hold war criminals and is supplied for the army. Don't worry though, when we start going to war with hospital nurseries I'll make sure we've got an adequate supply baby essentials… oh, by the way, about the diapers we're running low, but I'm sure Sky will be having us cutting up old uniforms to make more for the thing to crap in soon enough."

Ayb had enough of his attitude and charged at the bars.

"Damnit, just shut the hell up!" Shouted Ayb as the guard backed out of his reach.

"Here, I'll get you a milk carton to feed him ok… don't go anywhere" said the guard laughing as he walked away.

"Cocky bastard" growled Ayb as he returned to his seat.

Nicky had stopped crying.

"So then, if you two have a plan then why are you waiting?" Ayb asked.

"Just wait" said Paul sternly.

Reuger took a breath and reached behind his neck beneath his neckerchief to a small pouch sewn into it. From it he pulled out a small bottle of large blue pills and dumped one into his hand. He picked up the glass of water that had come with his meal and used it to wash down the pill. This made Paul curious but he didn't bother to ask.

Back at Petunia's Keni sat in her shelter eating a bowl of soup as Silver played around with Keni's gadgets. she only ever left the non lethal ones and ones that she doesn't care about out for that reason.

"What's this one mama?" Silver asked.

Keni's eyes lit up when she heard this. Her first thoughts were to tell Torch . She scrambled out of the shelter and hurried to the living room.

"Torch Torch Silver talked, she talked!" Keni said excitedly.

"Really? So she's back to normal then?" Torch asked.

"Yep, I've really missed hearing her voice" said Keni noticing Alexis laying on the couch "Is there something wrong with Alexis, she doesn't look good."

"Yea, she said she woke up feeling weak, just let her rest for a bit" said Torch.

Keni turned to see that Silver had followed her out and had started playing with Petunia's nick knacks.

"No Silver put those down, Petunia will go crazy if you break something" said Keni hurrying over to take the objects from her.

There was a knock on the door then it swung open to reveal Jilly and the others.

"Why do you knock if you're just going to barge in anyway?" Dubble asked.

"Who cares, Keni I have something for you!" Jilly shouted.

Keni grabbed Silver by the hand knowing that if she left her unattended she'd go back to playing with Petunia's things.

"Umm… who are you?" Keni asked.

"I'm Jilly, call me Francis and I'll kill you violently, or slowly, maybe quickly, however the hell I feel like killing you, rest assured I will kill you in some way if you call me Francis so don't… probably slowly." said Jilly.

The majority of that seemed entirely un necessary to say.

"Wow what a nice introduction" said Rose sitting it Petunias chair, her sarcasm obvious "I wish I introduced myself so well."

Jilly stared at her.

"Here, these are components for a bomb, analyze them and tell me how to make them!" Jilly ordered.

Keni may not have obliged him due to his attitude but found herself intrigued by the unfamiliar contents in these containers. She had prepared to return to her shelter to study them but they could suddenly hear the faint sound of gunfire in the distance. This sparked everyone's attention as they hurried outside. From their position they could see nothing. Some people in the group looked at one another. Others stared off into the distance. It sounded like multiple guns, almost as if there was an entire convoy firing at once. Gradually they noticed a shape emerging from the distance. It had the shape of a tree friend and seemed to be carrying something in it's arms, another tree friend. It was making slow progress but yet looked like it was trying to run. Slowly it came into focus, they appeared to be two raccoons.

The one limping it's way over to them wore a dark blue jacket over it's grey fur. The one in it's arms has sapphire blue fur and red facial markings as well as red tail rings. Her belly was pink and her attire consisted of a light blue bow behind her left ear and wore a red neckerchief. As the figures approached they could see the yellow eyes of the one walking towards them.

"Sk- Skyler? is that you!" Asked Thorn astonished.

"Thor-" Skyler said before she hurried to cover his mouth.

Thorn looked back at Rose to see if she heard but she didn't seem to.

"Oh… you haven't told her yet huh?" Skyler asked.

"What happened to you?" Thorn asked "Who is this?"

"This is Belle" he said grunting away his pain "I don't remember much, when I came to my senses her and I were being carried."

"Look, here, can anyone help him?" Thorn asked desperately.

Torch was already near him inspecting his wounds

"Here, let's get them inside" said Torch.

Thorn obliged and was helped by Lisa. Kurt took Belle and they entered the house. Petunia immediately prepared for this and began spreading plastic wrap over the couch Alexis staggered to her feet and moved to the chair to make room for Skyler.

"C'mon, someone help me, I don't want blood on my couch!" Petunia ordered.

Bubble hurried to Petunias aid as did Rose.

Torch looked over Skyler's wounds. None of them appeared fatal but he was badly beaten.

"Ok, you can put him down now" said Petunia.

They wasted no time placing him on the couch as Torch further examined his injuries.

"Let's see. Lacerations on the arm, small gash across the chest. Leg appears to have a minor fracture, large amount of bruising. Does it hurt to breathe?" Torch asked.

"No" Skyler replied.

"Alright, you're not coughing up blood either so it looks like you don't have any internal injuries like that… looks like you'll be fine" declared Torch. "Alright people I'm going to need some disinfectant, sutures, and bandages from my bag. I'll also need you all to scrounge up some stuff I can use for a splint."

Torch got up and moved over to Belle who had been placed onto Torch's bedding.

"Belle should be fine… she wasn't attacked" Skyler said.

Torch checked and concluded that she was fine, she was just knocked out.

Jilly seemed to be getting annoyed that everyone was ignoring the bomb now as everyone who cared was running around gathering things for Torch. Jilly looked around and for the moment research didn't matter he knew how powerful the explosion could be and how it would get everyone to pay attention again, he could probably take out a chunk of the living room with what he took for samples. He grabbed the containers and dumped them onto the floor. He slid his goggles over his eyes and grinned as he went to strike a match. Just as he procured it he was grabbed from behind and hurled out the door and rolled across the road. When he looked up he noticed a familiar face that he hadn't seen in a while.

"Candy, how's life been treat'n ya" said Jilly getting up.

"Listen Jolly have you lost your mind… you know what… don't answer that. You were just going to blow up that house and everyone in it weren't you?" Candy asked.

Glitter poked his head out the door and seen the familiar sugar glider. Her fur was a powder blue but she had blue markings on her forehead, the backs of her arms, and at the end of her long tail. She also had extra skin, similar to Splendid's that she used to fly.

"Is that you Miss Candy?" Glitter asked.

"Stay in the house Sprinkles!" she ordered to Glitter.

Jilly was laughing hysterically at her name mistakes.

"You have nothing to laugh about Jacky, I'm not letting you hurt Flicker or anyone else, you got that!" Candy shouted.

Jilly began laughing even harder.

Inside the house with only a couple people distracted with the events outside Torch had finished dressing Skyler's wounds.

"Thanks" said Skyler.

"How did you even get banged up like that? Torch asked

"Well… like I said I can't really remember too much" started Skyler "I can't remember what happened before I was knocked out… come to think of it… I barely remember any recent events. I remember the flood… I couldn't find anyone when I searched, I managed to escape quickly… then I can't remember anything until just recently. I came to and I was being carried. I couldn't move much. Bell was in the things other hand, she was still out, I thought she was dead. I kept trying to get free but I just couldn't. then I remember hearing a voice, it said something like 'Boom' please let them be'. It sounded like a girl. The creature stopped, I couldn't see it's face. Then I was hit with some kind of force, it didn't hurt and I was wrenched from the creature's hand. The second I was free my only goal was to free the girl he was carrying. I put on my claws and slashed at it but it seemed more transfixed on the girl that was speaking to him. the creature looked like a giant rabbit but the other one was our size and she was glowing pink. When I slashed at the creature's hand he kicked me in the stomach… I didn't stand a chance when he just started tossing me around. Then the girl he was carrying flew out of his hand, probably by the same thing that saved me and I just picked her up and ran. I guess the army was passing by and they just started fighting it… I didn't really care to look back."

Despite how it occurred a few days ago everyone remembered the rabbit monster as if it were yesterday, now they had a name to connect it with. Torch turned his head to Belle who was still unconscious.

"So you can't remember where you guys were?" Torch asked.

"No, sorry" said Skyler.

"How did you escape the flood?" Thorn asked.

"I was just on the edge of town when it hit, I started to get swept away but I managed to swim out… I went back to find everyone when the storm settled… but I couldn't… and that's all I can remember" said Skyler.

Keni proceeded to pick up the bomb components, still interested in studying them.

"You said that bomb that Rabbit threw at you looked like a propane tank right Kurt?" Thunder asked.

"What about it?" Kurt responded.

"The bomb components we brought over are from one of them, apparently Jilly found this one in a bush" said Thunder.

"Yea… and you know what, that's exactly where that rabbit got his from" said Kurt.

"Yea, I thought so… if that's the case then there are likely even more around town too" said Thunder.

This seemed to bother Kurt, he remembered the crater the other bomb left and how the explosion threw Petunias car so easily.

"Shit, if he has more of those things hiding around town then he's probably planning on coming back" said Kurt.

"Exactly… unfortunately I don't have the manpower available right now to perform a sweep, I still need my men stationed near the military base to keep an eye on them" said Thunder.

"Maybe we should let the town know so they can start searching for them" suggested Kurt.

"I'll take care of it" said Candy returning to the house.

"If you can, then go for it" said Thunder.

"Excuse us but are Araya and Ansom in?" Qiuki asked as she and the twins entered the house.

"Hey mom" said Ansom.

"Ansom, your sisters and I came to ask if you wanted to stay with us but… well" Qiuki said handing him the letter.

Ansom looked over it and read. He was drawn to the same familiar ink that had created several other letters that Petunia received.

"Do you know who sent this to you mom?" Ansom asked.

"No idea" said Qiuki "we were discussing whether or not to ask you two to stay with us then when we opened the door there it was."

"Yea, letters like these have been popping up quite a bit, Petunia got two of them, and Lisa and Remmie both got one" said Ansom.

Qiuki's attention turned to the one laying on the couch.

"Oh, what happened to you?" Qiuki asked Skyler concerned.

"Got beaten… pretty bad" said Skyler.

"Will you be ok?" Qiuki asked "you know, my daughter Araya can heal you"

"Heal me…. How?" Skyler asked.

"Oh, but I shouldn't put her on the spot, it's her decision" said Qiuki looking at her daughter.

"Don't worry mama, Araya will heal Skyler up good" said Araya moving over to him.

"What are you gonna do exactly?" Skyler asked.

"Araya's blood can heal your booboos" said Araya.

Skyler's pupils shrank at the thought.

"Umm… you mean that you're gonna… bleed on me?" he asked somewhat repulsed.

"Yep" Araya said happily "Now, give Araya your arm."

"Umm… that's ok I'll be better soon" he said.

"Well maybe by the end of the month, those gashes on your arm were pretty deep, not to mention the fracture in your leg, no doubt running on it made it worse. I'll say that I approve of this blood thing, I'm curious… I just wish I knew about this before wasting my medical supplies on you but it's fine" said Torch watching intently.

Though Skyler still objected to the idea, a month was a bit to long to be bed ridden for him.

"Fine" said Skyler holding out his arm.

Keni also joined in to watch.

"Hang on a second Araya" said Ansom as he began to stare at Skyler.

Skyler was stricken with a creeping sensation as Ansom stared into his soul. He could see a lingering darkness. This man had definitely not been living pure all his life and he could see the shadows of murder… yet there was something else, a semblance of goodness that outweighed the side of evil, it was what he was now.

"Ok Araya, go for it, he passes for good" said Ansom.

Ansom felt the creeping feeling leave and become replaced by curiosity of what Ansom did. Before he could contemplate it too much Araya began her work.

Araya removed the bandages to reveal the lightly oozing wound. Petunia was growing more horrified by the second. Araya then lifted her tail and sliced her palm on one of it's spikes. Petunia winced while Jilly watched excitedly. Araya reached her hand over to Skyler's arm and he cringed as he felt Araya's warm blood being smeared against his skin. Petunia felt like she was going to vomit and ran to the bathroom. Araya brushed her hand over his arm pressing on the wounds until they were all covered. As she moved to his chest they watched as Araya's blood seeped into the wounds and gradually the lacerations began to seal.

"Hey, can someone get me my scissors?" Torch asked in preparation to cut the sutures. Lisa obliged.

Araya's hand passed over Skyler's chest and for a brief moment Thorn found herself jealous. The slice that had once been across Skyler's entire chest began to fade as Torch cut the sutures on Skyler's arm. Araya then brought her hand down to Skyler's leg and pressed hard on the fractured area causing him to growl in pain. After a brief moment Araya released her hand and looked at her palm to watch as the slice quickly healed. Skyler began to feel better but his leg was still sore.

"I'm not gonna get a blood disease from this am I" Skyler asked.

"Nope" said Ansom "In fact you're probably better off ingesting a glass of Araya's blood than a glass of water."

"No, don't drink Araya's blood" Araya said.

Ansom laughed at this.

"Well anyways, your leg's gonna heal quick but it'll still take time to fix bones, flesh is much easier to mend" said Ansom "So be careful for today."

Skyler twisted his arm around and stretched it out.

"Yep, good as new, thanks Araya" Skyler said.

"Well if you don't mind the girls and I will be returning home" said Qiuki.

"Wait mom, Araya and I can still walk you back" said Ansom.

"If you would like, come along then, bye everyone" Qiuki said as the family left.

This reminded Keni of her friends and how Reuger had gone to free them, at least that's what Kurt told her… but that was yesterday. Keni became worried again, why weren't they back yet. She still felt completely powerless. That's when they heard the sound of a military humvee stop in front of the house. Keni's ears perked up as she hurried out the door to see who it was. The one who stepped out was Flippy.

"What are you doing here Flippy?" Torch asked as the bear approached the front door.

"Hey Torch, hey Kurt my squad and I just met with an engagement with some sort of creature, it fled into the woods… after totaling a couple jeeps. We just came to see if everyone was alright, seeing as Petunia's house is nearest to where he fled I just thought I'd make this my stop. Also we seen somebody fleeing before we engaged the creature and were wondering if you guys had seen them" said Flippy.

"Right here" said Skyler waving from the couch "the other one is right there, we're both ok."

"Ah, good… well it doesn't seem like the creature came this way so I will take my leave." said Flippy turning to leave.

"Wait, Flippy you're in the army, do you know what happened to Reuger when he went to go get Ayb and Laurel?" Keni asked desperately.

Flippy stared at her.

"Sorry but I don't know" said Flippy.

"Well can you help, can't you get my friends out?" Keni asked.

"Well if Reuger went to do it and couldn't then I can't" said Flippy.

"Well you've got to try!" Keni shouted.

Flippy looked away for a moment.

"Ok… I'll se what I can do but I can't make any promises" said Flippy.

Flippy returned to his vehicle and took off down the road.

"Reuger went to get your friends?" Thunder asked.

"Yes and he never came back" said Keni.

Thunder thought to himself for a moment.

"Alright, I'm heading back to Lisa's, see you Alexis" Thunder said as he waved to her and left the house.

Lisa looked around and figured that she'd head back home too.

"So where are you gonna stay Skyler?" Asked Lisa

"well I hadn't been able to actually plan that" said Skyler.

"You'd probably be better off to stay here today" said Torch "We've gotta make sure your leg heals up."

"Yea, you're right, I guess I'll stay here then" said Skyler.

Thorn didn't want to leave her friend but knew it would be best for him to stay.

"Alright then Skyler, don't push yourself" said Thorn.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine" Skyler said.

Thorn would have stayed but she wanted to keep her distance from rose so she followed the others out.

"You knew him" Lisa asked.

"Yep, it's a long story, but amusing none the less, the short version is that we met when he tried to kill me but he never stood a chance" said Thorn.

"He tried to kill you!" said Lisa surprised.

"Yep, I guess he was hired to… he failed miserably" said Thorn.

"You think he might blow your secret to Rose?" Lisa asked.

"No, not now that he knows I haven't told her yet" thorn replied.

"So what was it that you haven't told her… what is it that's so important that she can't know?" Lisa asked.

Thorn looked away.

"Well… I'd just rather her know that I don't exist" said Thorn.

"Yea, that explains the disguises, but why, is there a problem with her knowing that you're you?" Lisa asked.

"I thought that we agreed to let me handle it Lisa!" said Thorn growing hostile.

Lisa was surprised bit un deterred.

"We did… but you're not even trying. You treat the situation like it's going to work its self out. You're afraid, no, you're terrified abut something and you're to afraid that the situations stability is going to change for the worse the second you let something go, that's not how you solve the problem Thorn!" said Lisa loudly.

The entire group heard her.

"Damnit Lisa I'm a fucking killer ok. I've killed tons of innocent people and no, it's not the same as here, these people had no grantees of coming back and I didn't give a shit, I just killed killed killed! You happy now…" Thorn shouted, her voice calming down.

Some of the group was shocked while others didn't care. Tears began to well in Thorns eyes.

"That's why I can't let her know who I am… I've don't things, horrible things that I can never forgive myself for. And I've done things that Rose can never know… it's better that I remain dead to her no matter how badly I want her to know that I'm here." said Thorn.

the group continued on silently.

Meanwhile Qiuki and the others entered the parking lot of the motel. It was growing late and the area was quiet.

"So this is where you guys are staying?" Ansom asked.

"Yep, it's actually pretty nice here, they've even got a hot tub, the girls and I are going tonight, the employees probably won't mind if you join us" Qiuki said.

"Sure, I guess we'll stop there before we go back to Lisa's" said Ansom.

"Oooh Araya wants to see your room mama" said Araya.

"Yep, that's where we're going sweetie" said Qiuki rubbing Araya's red hair.

Araya giggled and they ascended the steps to the deck and moved to their room. They stopped right before the door however as they seen that it was slightly open and the sound of the television could be heard. The family looked at one another and Qiuki slowly opened the door.

Inside sat the one they had been dreading to see. Leaning back in a wooden chair drinking a beer was a red porcupine with black quills his eyes had black rings around them and had long dark red hair on his head. He also had a long tail tipped with black.

"Think you could get away from me you filthy whore" growled the man.

Ansom was ready to charge at him but Qiuki held him back.

"Looks like you brought the faggot and the retard too. All to see your old man huh?" said the porcupine as he walked up to them, close enough to see his red eyes and the black rings in them.

"Tell me bitch, at what point did you think I wouldn't notice you and the mind fucked freaks missing" the porcupine started "oh yea, I heard about the flood, and I knew this bitch would be gone looking for ya. Or maybe she just wanted an excuse to whore herself out somewhere else."

"Why did you come here Bious?" Qiuki asked.

"Why did I come here, aint it obvious you skank, I don't like it when people try to play me, especially this group of worthless pustules that I wasted my time to help create. Just remember this… you're mine bitch and there's no getting away from that" Bious said as Ansom swung a fist to his face. Bious quickly raised his hand and caught Ansom's fist.

"What was that, you try'n to beat me kid, you think you've got the fuck'n balls to take me on. No kid, you've never had a chance against me. Qiuki, don't worry, I'm gonna be staying right next door, and I'll make sure to kill every bastard you whore yourself out to" said Bious.

At that he left the room and shoved the kids aside, turned , and entered his own room.

Lisa's group had arrived back to her house. Jilly was annoyed by the need to wait for Keni's results but satisfied that with candy. The real Candy however chose to stay at Lisa's to keep an eye on glitter and Jilly or Sprinkles and Jolly. Thunder made his way down to his station in the basement. He sat beside his phone and called his team at the military base.

"I'm calling with a question, a man named Reuger recently entered the facility, a skunk, he was a field marshal in the army. He went in to negotiate a prisoner release and hasn't returned. I need you to give me whatever information you can about this." ordered Thunder.

"Just give us a moment" said the man on the other line "hmm… we had to check up on him in our military archives, yes we recall seeing him enter about mid day. We seen him pass through the base and enter the prison barge… we never seen him leave though" said the contact.

Thunder thought about this.

"Very well, keep me posted" said Thunder hanging up.

The conclusion was obvious, Reuger was still in the ship and the likelihood of a prisoner release requiring him to stay there was not likely enough for Thunder to avoid suspicion. He felt that either Reuger had joined them or he was taken prisoner, however without knowing for sure there was little course of action he could take, he needed a way to get information. His decision was final, he would do what he had been wanting to do the entire time, infiltrate the facility.

[This came a bit later than I wanted, interestingly the opposite of writers block, I had too many things I wanted to do in the situation but couldn't decide which ones to use, I hope I picked the best ones I could, let me know what y'all think. Also today's Jilly translation is "nobody had better have taken anything from my bag!" also I knew you meant meds Kenikitten, I just wanted to make the south park reference. I also couldn't think of a title so I picked the driving force of the chapter for it. Au revoir!]


	13. Well Laid Plans

**[**hello again all, to those of you who I told that this chapter would be done soon… well… it wasn't like I thought it'd be. Please don't kill me *cowers behind fun spinney computer chair* anyways I gots an extra long one for ya so enjoy. also Coin, listen to swindle and be patient or i won't invite you to my birthday party... speaking of which.]

"Time to get up Remmie!" shouted Midnight kicking Remmie's bed.

The hedgehog tried his best to wake up quickly but his lazy morning eyes kept him half asleep.

"Ut ooo you want" mumbled and slurred Remmie trying to force himself up.

"It's my birthday today, you know what that means… that's right you get to make me a birthday breakfast while I sit around and do whatever the hell I want" announced Midnight.

Remmie forced his eyes open and looked around the room then up to midnight.

"It's you're birthday?" Remmie asked.

"What, you didn't know?" Midnight asked.

Remmie suddenly began to worry, he had absolutely nothing prepared for this. Still, he lazily rolled out of bed.

"Well, happy birthday then" said Remmie as he passed the panther.

Remmie sauntered down stairs prepared to make breakfast.

"Hey Chunky, you wanna help me make Birthday breakfast for midnight's birthday?" asked Remmie.

"Ok, when is it?" Chunky asked.

"Umm… right now I guess" said Remmie.

"Seriously? I don't remember her mentioning any of this before" Chunky said.

"Yea neither do I… still sounds like a good excuse to make a fancy breakfast" said Remmie.

"C'mon, we don't need any excuse for that, let's cook" said Chunky eagerly.

Chunky shot up and followed Remmie into the kitchen to see that Trippy and Twisty were already cooking… it was a mess.

"Umm…?" said Remmie looking at the disaster area of his kitchen.

"Oh, good morning Remmie, umm… I was hoping to surprise everyone with breakfast but umm… I guess you already know" said Trippy.

At that moment Twisty dropped a handful of eggs that she had beem trying to crack open onto the floor and shattering them.

"Oops" she said looking at the floor.

Remmie closed his eyes and tugged at the spikes on his neck in frustration.

"Well, Chunky and I were going to start cooking breakfast for Midnight's birthday… which is today I guess. Here, Chunky, grab a cook book and find something good to make. Twisty, umm… clean up the eggs you dropped. Ok then let's see what you've already started Trippy… ok first things first nobody wants egg shells in their French toast so let's get those out of there. Also I prefer cinnamon to paprika in mine so let's get that switched" said Remmie.

"Oh, sorry I thought that was cinnamon, they look a lot alike" said Trippy pulling egg shells out of the bowl she was using.

"I think I'm in the mood for eggs benedict" said Chunky looking into the cook book.

"Alright, then we'll have that then, get everything out of the fridge" said Remmie.

Eventually Remmie had gotten everything under control and midnight had come down to the living room. The smell of the food cooking also drew the others. Eme ascended from the basement, Twitchy had left the spare room, Twitch made his way out of the closet, and even Tiny made his way to the house… but that was probably just a coincidence.

"Oooh, what're you guys making?" asked Eme.

"Breakfast for Midnight's birthday" replied Trippy.

"Midnight's birthday, but I thought her birthday was on the sixteenth" said Eme.

"Hey, yea it was, that's the day that Coin was supposed to arrive too" said Twitchy.

"Ugh, I knew she was lying… still though, we gotta make breakfast" said Remmie.

They continued cooking, this time no longer stressed out over Midnights birthday. That was tomorrow. Fortunately they felt like they were taking care of birthday breakfast early. This got some of them wondering why she told them it was today when it was just a day away. By now they knew Midnight pretty much just did whatever she wanted, maybe she just felt like today should be her birthday. Twitch tried numerous times to take the ham on the pans but the chefs worked to deter the rabbit who still tried after several times of being burned by the pan. Twitchy and Eme proved valuable, even Tiny was an excellent ingredient fetcher and plate setter, using his skateboard for speed and dexterity to get the job done fast and well.

The cooks finished just before eleven thirty and set the plates. Thanks to Remmie and Chunky they were all able to save breakfast from the clutches of the budding chefs Trippy and Twisty… however there was still a hell of a mess in the kitchen. They sat down in the living room and Chunky and Remmie turned on the game system.

"Why'd you say that your birthday was today Midnight?" Twitchy asked.

"Why would she need a reason, I'd do the same thing just because I wanted to" said Tiny.

"Because if I told you it was tomorrow, you would all suggest that we celebrate it by going to the comedy club, that's not how I'm gonna spend my birthday listening to that parrot" said Midnight.

"Why not, Coin's awesome!" said Twitchy.

"I can think of a thousand thing's I'd rather do Twitchy, anyways this is damn good" said Midnight.

"Thank you" said all the cooks.

Back in Lisa's basement Thunder was busily working, today was they day he'd find out what the military was doing in Birch Tree town, all he needed to do was plan. He had no intention of moving his squad, he'd need aid from another source, people who could handle themselves if worse came to worse, as well as people who could keep their cool under pressure… he had little option but to use what resources he had, he would have other refugees assist him. However he would be unable to make plans without knowing his team. He needed to get started now. Thunder left the solitude of his basement room and ascended the stairs. His first assessment was of the group at that house.

Jilly was a temporary thought, except he would be unpredictable when in the base. Candy was possible but bringing in a super powered animal may not go over too well. Dubble seemed to fit the criteria he needed, smart yet could hold his own. Ansom could also work. Araya and Glitter probably would not. He had fought alongside Lilith before so he knew she could hold her own, so long as she said nothing that would compromise the mission. Thorn was also a good candidate. Lisa probably would not want to be involved. All and all he felt it best to gather up all the households to discuss a plan as it affected them all.

Back at Remmie's house everyone had finished eating and went about their business.

"Hey Remmie, could you come in here for a sec?" Twitchy asked.

Remmie paused the game to the dismay of Chunky and went to the spare room.

"Someth'n you need?" Remmie asked.

"Yea, come over here for a sec and look at this" said Twitchy stepping away from her microscope.

Remmie approached it and peered through the lenses. It was a water sample… but something seemed off about it. It was almost as if there was something else flowing in the water, leaving vague and subtle distortions.

"Umm… what's so off about it?" Remmie asked.

"Didn't you see it? There's like, some kind of distortion, it's not microorganisms, I sterilized the samples" said Twitchy looking through the lenses.

"Well I thought I seen something, but maybe that's just something in this sample" suggested Remmie.

"Yea, I thought that at first too, but none of the earlier samples have this distortion. The closer I get to the flood water the more it shows. Also, do you remember that little container that rabbit used before he killed splendid. Well I gathered up a few pieces of it that still had some of that goop on it. I tested it with a similar chemical that I tested some of the flood water I took when we returned to Birch Tree Town… they turned the same color, green. I tested some of your tap water and earlier flood samples after that but they did not react at all" said Twitchy.

"What, so you're saying that the goop and the flood water have the same stuff in it?" Remmie asked.

"Well with these results Remmie, yes" said Twitchy "however the flood water behaves just like water, the goop is much slower moving and much thicker."

"So then the chemical that's in the water is much more concentrated in that goop than the water which is what gives it it's thickness" said Remmie.

"Well theirs probably more to it than that but that's at least part of it" said Twitchy.

She was suddenly struck silent with a thought before she spoke again.

"Remmie, you think that what the military is studying is the water?" Twitchy asked.

At that moment the phone rang and midnight answered it.

"What the hell do you want" she said into the phone.

"Is this Midnight? gather everyone and meet me at Lisa's house, we have business to discuss" said the voice, it was Thunder.

"Whatever chief, Alright people!" Midnight started to shout. "Thunder called us and says to meat him at Lisa's!"

She yelled it loud enough for everyone to hear. They all remembered meeting there last when they had the string of arsons and felt that it was important to go. Everyone gathered and began the walk to Lisa's. all of the recent events even seemed to have had some sort of effect on Twitch and Tiny giving even them a sense of seriousness about the matter, though Twitch sort of hoped for disaster to befall everyone. Through a relatively silent walk they eventually showed up to Lisa's house. When everyone entered they found that Petunia's household had already arrived.

"Great, looks like everyone's here, now listen, I have decided that I'm not waiting around anymore and I'm taking action now. I've called everyone here to discuss a course of action. Here's the lowdown, the military has moved into Birch Tree Town for reasons mostly unknown, they claim to be researching something and today we are going to find out what. Among the list of business it to discover why they have felt the need to capture civilians, they currently have three known civilian prisoners, however we have little information on them. Our goals are to locate anything of value, anything that can tell us or give us a clue to the military's goals with the town and the prisoners. I have also received reports that former field marshal Reuger had entered to negotiate prisoner release and has not come back out. We need to formulate a suitable plan to meet these goals" Thunder explained.

"Well aint it obvious, we blow our way in and take whatever we need!" shouted Jilly.

"Oh, that's a great idea, my favorite part of it is that if they don't shoot us dead the moment we enter they're bound to take the evidence we want and hide it or destroy it" said Rose.

"Exactly Rose, we need to enter covertly" said Thunder.

"Well we could sneak in" said Midnight "not really my style but I could give it a shot.

"No, sneaking in will require a very small team risking a lot to explore a facility we don't know the layout of, it's far to dangerous and will take a very long time" said Chunky remembering some Metal Gear and Ghost Recon moments.

"Well then, looks like we need a solution that's both non violent and will give us an opportunity to explore the facility freely" said Andy.

"Hey wait, some of you guys were in the army right, wouldn't you have clearance to enter?" asked Eme.

"Maybe… that sounds good, but only me, Kurt, Midnight, and Lilith were ever active in the military" said Torch.

"Exactly, and I'm not sparing any expenses, it's now or never. We need as many able bodies in there as we can get in case something goes wrong" said Thunder.

"Well we could try to disguise some of the others as being with us… with only four of us however we wouldn't really be able to bring in too many others without suspicion" said Kurt.

Everyone was silently in thought before Skyler spoke.

"Maybe we _can_ get more military personnel" he said.

"And how would you go about doing that?" asked Midnight as if he had no idea what he was talking about.

"Well I could pose as one" he said altering his voice, he sounded just like midnight "I could dress up as a high ranking officer and alter my voice to sound just like his."

This time when he spoke he imitated Kurt and Torch. Everyone was rather surprised to say the least but his suggestion was very possible.

"Anyone think Flippy would help?" asked Thorn.

"He might, he said he'd do what he can to help us" said Keni.

"Ok then… so, assuming that we can disguise Skyler and recruit Flippy we still need a group who can accompany them into the base. We will need someone good with tech and someone capable of determining biological factors. If what I know is correct Keni and Twitchy can fill those roles. The others should be capable of combat if worse comes to worse, if we have a high ranking officer leading you then we should be able to disguise you as recruits no questions asked. Dubble, Remmie, Alexis, Andy, and Th- uhh… Shelby, You will accompany them as well. Candy, you need to be on standby, shit start's going down you gotta be ready to bail us out. The rest of you, you're all on standby" Thunder announced.

"We don't need to drag Uhh, Shelby into this, we can manage on without her" said Skyler.

"It's fine, I want to help" said Thorn.

"Yea but-" Skyler started to say until Thunder cut him off.

"She can handle herself Skyler, so now we've got our plan… unfortunately there's still a few flaws, we need to find somewhere we can get enough uniforms for everyone. And we need some way of getting a high ranking officials voice so Skyler knows what to imitate" said Thunder.

Everyone was silent again. Some ideas were to steal them on the way but it would be nearly impossible to predict whether or not it's possible.

"Hey wait a minute, Swindle gave us pamphlets on military gear. Maybe we could order uniforms from it" suggested Twitchy.

"Ordering them would probably take to long, if Swindle has them then we go to him directly" said Thunder.

"Well... There might be a problem with that… I don't know where he is" said Twitchy.

"Well Lifty and Shifty delivered the pamphlets, maybe we could ask them to find him" Remmie suggested.

"Better than nothing. Alright, first order of business, ask around town until we find Lifty and Shifty. We'll report to the park in the center of town at one o'clock alright" said Thunder.

"Sounds good, let's get to work" said Kurt.

At that everyone exited Lisa's house. Neither Lisa or Petunia objected, they never wanted to become involved with this but simply because of them being put in charge of refugees they found themselves in too deep to back out. Gradually the groups split up on their ways down town and spread out around town. Allot of people seen the twin raccoons at some point but did not know their current location. That is until Remmie, Belle, Twitchy, and Chunky found them at the ice cream parlor.

"Lifty, Shifty, we've been looking for you two" said Twitchy.

They seemed to get a bit skittish and were prepared to run as they felt that they had been caught for something.

"We need you to tell us where Swindle is" said Twitchy.

"Swindle?" asked Lifty

"Not even we know where he is, if you really wanna see him we need to call and arrange a meeting" explained Shifty.

"If you can get a hold of him and have him meet us in the park at one that'd be great" said Twitchy.

"Well he usually prefers some place less open but for a friend he might consider it" said Shifty "We'll have to stop back at the house though to call him."

"That's fine, let's go" said Twitchy.

The group made their way to Lifty and Shifty's house. The inside was filled with ill gotten gains. They made their way to the phone and Shifty dialed Swindle and conversed. After a brief dialogue exchange the two hung up.

"Well he agreed to come, it's almost one now so we'd better get going" said Shifty.

They looked at the clock and seen that he was right. The group followed the raccoons out of the house.

"So, you're ok now Belle?" Chunky asked.

"Huh. Yea I'm ok, I don't remember anything that happened though… they told me that Skyler saved me… it's weird, I kind of remember him… but it's vague. I guess he forgot a lot too… poor guy" Belle said, her voice was very soft.

"Yea, I heard that too… well anyways it's good that you made it alright, I heard Skyler's wounds were pretty bad though" said Chunky.

"I don't know… he was fine when I woke up. I heard that he had to fight something but I never seen it happen" said Belle.

The group continued to converse with Belle, mainly to acquaint themselves with one of the newest poor souls who got themselves dragged into something they didn't want.

At the motel Ansom and Araya paid their family a visit minus the porcupine in the room next door. They did find it strange to see a bunch of soda cans and snack wrappers sitting outside of it though.

"Hey mom" said Ansom.

"Hello Ansom, Araya" Qiuki replied.

"We're off to have an adventure mama!" said Araya excitedly.

"Oh, to where?" Qiuki asked.

"We're off to find out what the army's doing in our town" replied Ansom.

Qiuki was silent. Not out of shock but she really didn't know what to say, she naturally didn't want her kids getting themselves into danger, but it wouldn't be the first time.

"Don't worry about us too much ma. We're not going by ourselves" said Ansom looking out towards the park which was visible from the balcony.

When he looked, he noticed Dubble, Thorn, and Skyler entering meaning that likely it was time to meet back up with everybody.

"Well be careful then you two" said Qiuki as Araya and Ansom left waving back at them.

"You wanna go with them ma?" asked Misery and Sorrow.

"Shortly" replied Qiuki.

Araya and Ansom joined the group in the park. The cross there had not been removed but the body had been.

"Well Twitchy, looks like you guys managed to find them" said Thorn.

"Yea, we even arranged Swindle to meet us here. knowing him he'll probably make sure he shows up right at one" said Twitchy.

Sure enough. When one o'clock came the group noticed a coyote strolling towards them with a grin on his face. He was a light yellow gold color with a white belly and tail tip. His paws were all black as well as two large stripes that extended from his eyes in a similar manner as Twitchy's. he also had a black triangle on his forehead.

"Right on time huh Swindle" said Twitchy.

"You said one o'clock so I came at one o'clock. Oh yea, don't bother telling me why you called, just follow me" said Swindle turning to lead the group.

The group followed behind without objection. On the way Belle found herself walking beside Skyler. She turned her head to look at him but found herself blushing and turned away. They entered the forest still following Swindle until they came across a cave, well hidden in the rocky area. Swindle led them up a narrow path to it's mouth and they entered. There was little light along the passage powered by a generator some areas didn't seem to have any light at all and Belle began to grow nervous and grabbed Skyler's arm. He looked at her as did a few others. Thorn was one of them and grew jealous before Belle realized what she was doing and let go feeling awkward. Thorn also tried to shake her feeling and continued on. Eventually the lighting became brighter as the cave widened into a large chamber. The moment they entered they couldn't believe what they were looking at. It was a chamber filled with military hardware. Not just guns but vehicles too.

"So take your pick" said Swindle.

Thunder was in awe but returned his attention to business.

"Alright Swindle, here's the deal, we need thirteen uniforms and a recording of a high ranking officer's voice, preferably a raccoon. We also need enough guns to outfit all thirteen of us" said Thunder.

"Alright, just give me a moment" said Swindle. "Lifty, Shifty, come help me"

The raccoons obliged and began moving around to gather the orders. Despite the vast amounts of military gear it was fairly organized.

"Alright, everyone playing dress up get over here!" shouted Swindle.

Thunder and the others who were participating in the infiltration followed Swindle's call and approached a large pile of boxes. Some of them were opened to reveal that they were military uniforms. Lifty and Shifty began measuring the participants and telling Swindle what to grab. Swindle seemed to know just which crates to open. In no time everyone was dressed as a soldier. Swindle became nervous when he heard footsteps from the cave, he turned to the passage to see three strange creatures making their way down to them.

"Any chance these guys are friends of yours?" Swindle asked annoyed.

"Mom, Misery, Sorrow shat are you three doing here?" Ansom asked surprised.

"We wanted to help Ansom" said the twins.

"Great, you know each other. Alright then, on to the guns, Lifty, find a recording of a high ranking Raccoon officer that's still alive." said Swindle.

Lifty obliged and went to search for the recording before he noticed Eme.

"Oh, umm… hey Eme, I didn't know you were here" said Lifty.

"Now Lifty!" Swindle shouted.

"Oh sorry, gotta go Eme" said Lifty.

Thunder thought to himself for a moment.

"Alright Swindle, I'm going to need thirteen basic kits and we'll supply the others with handguns just in case" said Thunder.

"Sounds good" said Swindle opening weapon crates "if I didn't know any better I'd say you were going to be breaking into the military installation at Birch Tree Town, I'd recommend renting out the APC to complete the guise and get you there faster. Also save you from any suspicion you'd draw by wearing that through town" said Swindle.

"Good idea" said Thunder.

"Hey, you know Andy and I already brought our own guns dontchya?" Kurt asked.

"Yes but I'd prefer we blend in with each other, it's best to avoid as much suspicion as we can. Out melee weapons shouldn't draw too much attention so we can keep them on us" said Thunder.

"Alright, here's your guns" said Swindle as he and Shifty laid the kits out in front of them.

The others of the group watched as they outfitted themselves. Some of them thought that seeing them dressed as soldiers was adorable.

"Awwe you guys look so cute like that" said Belle and Araya.

This made some of them feel awkward but they managed to finish outfitting themselves. Afterwards they delivered the handguns to their recipients. As they were doing that Lifty returned with a cassette tape and a player as well as a small folder.

"Good news, I found a recording and there was a folder with it with a little bit of information on him in it" said Lifty.

This was more than they asked for and it was a pleasant surprise. Skyler took the cassette player and played it. While it played he rifled through the folder. This guy was currently stationed elsewhere but he may be able to pass off as him. This raccoon had red fur and a pink face mask and tail stripes. His belly was white.

Looking deeper into the file he was able to get more of an understanding of who this guy was and how to act like him and found out his name was Mel.

"Hey Swindle, you don't happen to have anything to make me look like this guy do you?" Skyler asked.

Swindle examined the photo.

"Yea, I think I have some cosmetics that can do the job, the same kid as her's" said Swindle pointing to Thorn.

Thorn gasped and looked to Rose who looked back… she definitely heard that but was thrown into suspicion because of Thorn's reaction to it. Thorn quickly straightened herself out to salvage the situation but the damage had been done.

"C'mon, I'll get you prettied up" said Swindle leading him away with Lifty and Shifty right behind.

It took only a short time but Skyler re appeared looking like an entirely different raccoon

"Jeez, Skyler, you look completely different, are you sure that's you?" said Thorn surprised.

"I don't recommend you talk'n about my appearance worm" said Skyler changing his voice to sound exactly like the recording. "Nah, just kidding, getting into my role."

The second sentence had his regular voice.

"Alright, enough of this then, we're wasting time now, into the APC" ordered Thunder.

"Now about your payment" said Swindle with a grin.

"I'll cover it and get it to you later" said Thunder.

"Very well, a pleasure doing business with you" said Swindle as the group began to load up.

"I'm driving this thing" declared Kurt as he and Andy raced towards the vehicle.

"Bye Eme, I'll call you or… or you call me… or something" said Lifty waving.

"Ok, I'll be waiting" said Eme as she approached the vehicle.

Despite the vehicle's size it was a fairly tight squeeze fitting everyone into it but they managed. Andy managed to bear Kurt to the driver's seat and thus was driving.

"Alright Andy, our first stop is Flippy's house" said Thunder.

"Alright" Andy replied.

A large door opened to reveal that part of this chamber was artificial and that it was through here that these supplies were getting transported. Andy started up the vehicle and drove it out of the cave. The ride was fairly uncomfortable, especially with the spiky animals poking everyone. thanks to this the ride seemed much longer than it was. Eventually the vehicle stopped beside a Quonset hut made from a large log. Because it was to be a quick stop only the people near the back of the vehicle got out and knocked at Flippy's door. After a brief moment it opened. Flippy peered outside and noticed the APC.

"What's going on?" Flippy asked.

"We need your help, we're infiltrating the military base in Birch Tree Town. I'm sure you can guess why. We need you to help keep our appearance, you're probably the only soldier they've seen of us and a bunch of us are just disguised. You can vouch for our legitimacy" said Thunder.

"You know if I'm caught I could be discharged" said Flippy.

At that moment Skyler stepped out of the APC.

"Field Marshal Mel!" said Flippy surprised and saluting.

"Brigadier General Flippy, you are ordered to assist us in out infiltration mission or I will have you discharged here and now!" ordered Skyler.

"Wait a minute… damnit, you guys are pulling out all the stops to do this aren't you, that was a perfect impersonation. Not to mention you look just like him… well I guess I can help. I'd rather not risk my position but you guys are serious about this" said Flippy.

"Very well then, if you're on board then we have no time to waste, come on" said Thunder.

Flippy ran back inside for a moment then returned with his rifle.

"Alright" said Flippy.

When everyone was loaded up Andy began the drive to Birch Tree Town. He and Kurt found the radio and blasted music the entire way. After about a forty minute drive the vehicle came to a stop and the passengers unloaded. They were not there but at a forest near there.

"Ok listen, everyone on standby will walk to the edge of the forest closest to the town. You will wait there if you are needed. Do not engage anyone, you hear me, just stay out of sight. I'm going to get a status report from my men. I'll be back shortly" Thunder said before he took off.

Thunder made his way through the forest and up a hill. He noticed one of the crosses that his team had mentioned along the way but continued on until he came upon a small encampment at the top of the hill

"Who's there?" said one of the men pointing a gun at him.

"Thunder, I'm here for a status report. I have an infiltration tam ready and so I need all the information you can give me about the base" said Thunder.

"Ah, commander. Well it's a fairly large facility, the only reason they were able to build it so fast was because most of it's structure arrived on boats so it just needed to be assembled. It's layout is unknown. We have seen numerous scientists and technicians milling in and out of the building as well as a plentiful supply of soldiers. You shouldn't have too much trouble getting in, just try to avoid wrong moves. It will probably take some convincing to get what you're after. Also Reuger has yet to leave the ship, we can assume that he was taken prisoner. That's all we know sir" said one of the mercenaries.

"Is that so, thank you for the work, I should be able to finish the job up quick" said Thunder.

With that Thunder made his way back down to the APC.

"Alright, all soldiers into the APC, Candy, we need you to be waiting as close as you can to the base, don't get caught. The rest of you, do as I told you. Let's get started" Ordered Thunder.

"Damnit, why didn't that prick pick me for that, I'm more capable than all of them for this job!" shouted Jilly.

"Just go" said Ansom as they made their way to the edge of the forest.

The APC made it's way down the road to a much more comfortable ride and stoped in front of the gates. In that instant he realized that he had to switch seats with someone or their cover would be blown before they even got started. Flippy happily took over.

"Name and Rank?" requested the guard.

"Brigadier general Flippy" Flippy replied.

Flippy had been here enough times to be recognized and they let him through. Flippy parked beside Reuger's humvee and everyone unloaded.

"Yea, this was definitely Reuger's" said Flippy.

The group looked around the camp but their target was obvious. Everyone followed Skyler who had already adapted to his role.

"Field Marshal Mel" they said saluting.

"I've been requisitioned to help deliver these recruits and technicians to the base. The others in my entourage are Brigadier General Flippy, former navy seal Kurt. Commander Torch. Former marine Lilith. And former special forces Midnight" said Skyler.

the soldiers believed him with no intention of questioning a superior.

"Very good sir, have a pleasant stay" the guards said.

Some of the ones dressed as recruits almost laughed. As they made their way inside. The facility was large and had multiple corridors. For now they were mostly in the clear so long as they made no wrong moves. Thunder served to lead them through the corridors following the signs on the walls. Despite that however it was still difficult to find the important areas. They stumbled into lounges and other such rooms. Skyler was rather enjoying his disguise but was starting to find saluting annoying. Along the way they needed to take a bathroom break which annoyed Thunder greatly but he waited. The first room of importance they came across was a security room, this was the opportunity to ask about Reuger.

"Ok Mr. Mel you're the leading officer here, you've gotta do the talking, ask him about what happened to Reuger like I explained on the way over here." Thunder whispered to Skyler.

Skyler approached the security officer and spoke.

"Excuse me sir but I was informed that a former general by the name of Reuger had been imprisoned here, can you explain to me why you would incarcerate one of our own men?" Skyler asked.

"Mel! sir… umm yes. Apparently it falls to Sky's jurisdiction. He explained that it was crucial to do for the project to say under control, I don't know the specifics but he is in the prison barge. I'm afraid that's all I know sir" said the security officer.

"Very well, carry on" said Skyler as he left the room.

The group assembled behind Thunder and Skyler again as they made their way to the research center. They continued on until they came into a fairly large room with a number of computers and glass chambers that contained thousands of gallons of water. Skyler looked around followed by Keni and Twitchy and approached someone working on a computer.

"Excuse me sir. I am here to take a copy of the research back to headquarters. May you supply me with one?" Skyler asked.

"I'm afraid we have none at the moment sir, but feel free to make one, there's an empty computer over there you should be able to use" said the man pointing to a vacant computer.

This fell to Keni's responsibilities as she moved over to it.

"Very well, thank you sir" said Skyler.

Keni sat at the computer as Twitchy watched and read the biological information. it was obvious that it was the water that had drawn the military to Birch Tree Town and whatever it was that Twitchy discovered this morning was probably what they were interested in as well. Keni hooked up a hard drive and began downloading the information. Twitchy scrutinized it carefully looking for anything that could give her a lead but in that instance the lights began to flicker and moments later the sound of a large explosion shook the halls.

"Ah, son of a bitch, what was that!" Thunder shouted "You two, get that information downloaded fast!"

Keni desperately looked for a way to oblige but could see none, they would have to wait as the sound of gunfire broke out around the base.

The explosion could be heard all the way to the holding cells in the barge and shook the prisoners.

"What the hell" Reuger said.

"Damnit, what the hell was that!" shouted Ayb as he scurried to his feet and peered through the bars.

Laurel hurried to the bars as well but seen nothing in the halls.

"This is it" said Paul rising to his feet. He seemed calm before but now he seemed ready to fight his way out of this prison. Suddenly the boat rocked and the sound of another explosion rang out. The boat was a target now.

"Stay where you are Reuger" said Paul, pressing himself against the wall of the cell near the bars.

The sound of running feet could be heard getting closer. Paul readied himself as a soldier stopped in front of their cell.

"Ok ju-" said the guard before Paul grabbed a hold of his collar and pulled him to the cell.

"Now Reuger!" Paul shouted.

Reuger pulled a dart out of his headband and stuck the guard in the neck with it. The dart met it's effects and knocked the guard out.

"Ok, he should have a card on him to unlock this cell" said Paul patting him down as Reuger joined him.

Paul managed to find the card and open the cell however what they faces was something of a nightmare. It was a large black lizard that from shoulder to shoulder took up most of the hall. Paul stared at the creature with astonishment in his eyes. His first reaction though was to grab the gun that the guard had been carrying. The creature lunged at them as Reuger used himself to give Paul the moment he needed to take the gun. Reuger was able to absorb the attack with only a minor scratch from the creature's claw grazing him. Paul aimed the gun and fired off numerous rounds into the creature's face. The creature collapsed onto the ground in agony but still seemed to be alive. Reuger and Paul stood near it's head delivering several curb stomps before crushing it. The body still seemed to wriggle around a bit but they had a feeling that the thing would no longer be a threat.

Just as they felt some sense of relief however they heard Ayb shouting from the other row of cells. They hurried up and around to see another of those lizards at the end of the hall. Paul and Reuger closed in as fast as they could. Ayb was out in the hall striking the creature with powerful fists but it seemed to only rock the creature. Paul took aim again and fired into the creature's spine. The lizard reacted by turning its self around but Ayb was on it and striking it in the ribs. Paul and Reuger rushed over and Reuger was able to grab it's head and pin it top the wall. Paul used this brief moment to shoot it in the brain stem. The creature dropped but it's body continued to struggle with whatever energy was left.

"What the hell are these things!" asked Ayb.

"No clue, you ok laurel?" Reuger asked.

"Yep, I'd have been on that thing too but I had to keep Nicky safe" Laurel said.

"Well c'mon, we've gotta get the hell out of here" said Reuger.

"Not without my things, the work I've been doing will be worthless if I leave it behind" said Paul.

"Alright, we'll find your things first then" said Reuger.

Keni was nearly finished downloading the data as their group was also beset by these creatures, four of them in fact. Taken by surprise the first one lunged at Thorn and pinned her to the floor. The others were targeted by the remaining three and unable to come to her aid. Remmie opened fire, desperate to make an opening for someone to reach Thorn. Thunder had drawn his cross blades and began tearing away at another of the creatures but despite the damage it managed to defend its self fairly well. Midnight targeted the final one with her sword and slashed it in the side. It retaliated by striking her with it's powerful tail and throwing her into a computer.

Lilith opened fire on Remmie's target and closed in as she fired. Flippy fired at Midnight's and took out it's eye. Kurt did what he could from range to help out the pinned Thorn but the creature did not release her. Fortunately Skyler found himself a brief opening and charged in with his metal claws and dug them into the creature's neck. Midnight returned to her feet and seeing her opening she raised her sword and brought down it's blade directly at the base of the head, severing it. Skyler managed to free Thorn who had suffered a number of claw wounds and a wound from a fang.

Midnight followed up with her momentum to dig her sword into the creature's ribs. Dubble the knife he had gotten in his kit and coupled with his rifle closed in on Remmie's target until he got close enough to stab it in the back of the head.

With three creatures down they were free to fire on the remaining creature. It was caught in a brutal and bloody crossfire but managed to remain on it's feet. Alexis hurried over to the greatly weakened creature with her sharp dog tags and jumped onto it's shoulders and began to tear away ay it's long neck. To a great surprise the onlookers noticed that her eyes had turned red from their original blue. However, now was no time to gawk as Keni neared completion of the download.

Not even the people on standby were safe however. They witnessed the two explosions and seen the creatures enter as well as other figures, but the people in the facility and the barge were not the only targets as the same lizards had also been drawn to the standby team and were starting to close in.

"Stay back Araya" said Ansom putting himself between the lizards and his sister.

"About damn time!" shouted Jilly.

As the creatures charged Tiny charged back, wielding a pair of chainsaws he began hacking away at the creatures. Jilly tossed a glass vial that blew a leg and a shoulder off one of the lizards on impact. He then rushed in with his scythe and engaged. Chunky had his pistol drawn and fired it into the group of lizards that converged on their position. The small caliber gun seemed to have little effect on them but it was all he had. Sitting in the middle of their defenders was Twisty, Trippy, Belle, Araya, and Glitter.

Rose fired into the group of lizards as well and was able to manage damaging their eyes. Twitch however almost seemed prepared for this and bulled out a number of knives he had stolen from Remmie's kitchen. Eme picked one up and entered the fray alongside Twitch.

"Strawberry Jam!" Twitch shouted to activate Twisty's murderous response, it was his favorite of the trigger words.

Twisty responded by picking up one of the knives and joining in the fray. Trippy was struck with fear seeing her sister entering the fight but she remembered the handguns that they had been given and beckoned for the others to use them which out of fear, they did. Araya however responded differently her eyes changed to a shade of purple and she whispered to herself.

"Ari" she said, but it sounded almost as if her voice had merged with the wind.

She too, stood up and entered the fray. Ansom stayed close to the others but wanted to protect Araya. At that moment his sisters began to act, almost like an illusion, a shift in the wind. Waves of blue energy flooded down onto the creatures burning them like fire. Suddenly Ansom realized a chink in their defenses. They were wide open in the back. He turned just as a lizard lunged and met it with a swift slash across the face. They were surrounded but holding their own. Araya fought well using the hard spikes on her tail as weapons. Eme also surprised the others with her deft knife work. However like the others on the inside they often required to double and triple team a creature to bring it down.

In the hold of the ship, the group finally located the contraband storage and Paul began to search for his stuff as well as laurel and Ayb. Their efforts were rushed as the sound of claws could be heard clanking in the hallway. Ayb was able to find his quickly, a pair of axes. Paul also managed to locate his. He had a wet suit, a couple of guns, some knives, and a waterproofed folder.

"Good, I've gotten my things, let's go" said Paul just as another lizard rounded the corner into the room.

Ayb met it swiftly though and hacked at it with his axes the creature backed away before lashing out at him grazing his chest. Reuger grabbed a gun from a shelf, loaded it and began to fire as did Paul. The gunfire distracted the creature for Ayb to sink an axe into it's head.

"We should get out before we run into another one of those things" said Reuger.

Inside the base Keni finally managed to download the information and the group wasted no time to get out of that room. They had a vague memory of the route back and followed it. Along the way they came across a number of dead soldiers and lizards. They reloaded their weapons and prepared for the worst. Thorn found herself feeling groggy leaving Skyler to support her as they made their way out.

"You know… I could have handled myself back there…" said Thorn.

"Yea I know, but I think I'd rather see you safe" said Skyler.

They both hid their blush. They hurried around a corner only to find that the passage was blocked with fire and debris. A sign read camp and pointed in that direction, this was the way out and someone blocked the passage. To make matters worse they heard the sound of foot steps from up the passage. However they were not the sounds of the lizards feet, they sounded more like… boots.

Outside Candy found herself in a bind. She wanted to get inside but as it was there was a rage number of lizards keeping her in that spot, whenever she tried to fly away she'd be dragged back down or pounced on. A large number of dead and frozen lizards surrounded her and more just climbed the bodies of the others to get to her.

The footsteps drew closer and the lights began to flicker as a figure grew in the distance. Everyone readied their weapons and targeted the person walking at them. He stood about twice the size of a regular tree friend and wore a long white coat with black pants. His head was covered in quills as well as his back and had a stripe going right along the center. His tail which he swished back and forth as he walked resembled the tail of a raccoon. extending from both wrists was a long blade.

"My my, so I've finally gotten to see you all face to face" said the creature grinning.

"Who the hell are you!" Kurt shouted.

"I prefer to refer to myself as Glory but I have been called a number of things, not all of them good mind you. Of course feel free to call me whatever you want. Pleasantries aside you folks have put up quite a fight" the creature said.

"Stay back asshole or we'll light you the fuck up!" shouted Kurt.

"Will you now? I wouldn't blame you if you tried but it won't change anything. I am here to get a task done and I don't much care how you resist" said Glory.

"Stuck up bastard!" shouted Kurt as he opened fire followed by the others.

Just before the trigger was pulled however Glory raised his hand. The bullets were not hitting him, instead it looked like they were being repelled. With every bullet impact there was a distortion in the air as well. The group stopped firing and observed.

"It's about time, are you finished then. I have many thing's I'd rather be doing right now" The creature said.

the group stared at the freak, what the hell was going on. As he closed in a couple more shots were fired and deflected the group backed up closer to the flaming debris as Glory flashed the metal of his blades. He was almost near enough to them to attack, but at that moment the fiery debris were smashed clear. And Candy charged through the air into the assailant knocking him off of his feet.

"Why Splendid, is that you" said the creature rising to his feet "Oh dear, it isn't. here I thought we had taken care of the super powered one… well it is of little consequence come along and let's finish this then."

"Alright you guys, now's your chance to go, get in the APC and go!" Candy shouted.

They all knew better than to question this and fled while they could.

The ship group finally made their way topside through a massive hole in the deck. They ran towards the ladder, they would swim to shore if they had to. However their attempts at fleeing were halted as they were bowled all around the ship. Reuger staggered to his feet to see a giant rabbit wielding a massive axe standing where they had been.

"Too bad, so close eh" said the rabbit in it's deep growly voice.

He looked around and targeted Laurel. Just as he neared her he was hit hard with an RPG. After being rocked the creature looked in the direction of the shot to see a stocky wolverine standing just in front of his doorway. In his mouth was a cigar and he dropped the RPG launcher. But he was not unarmed as he was also carrying with him a minigun with an ammo back strapped to his back. The rabbit looked at his arm that had been hit to see that it had been blown off.

"Awe shit, this fucker again" said the wolverine.

Inside the facility Candy was on top of the fight. She nimbly avoided his strikes with his blades and managed to hit him through his barrier. Glory took another thrust but Candy avoided it, inflated her lungs and blew a horrible gust of freezing air at the creature. The creature was unable to move the arm that had been frozen and was hit with another sting of cold air. She gave distance between herself and Glory as she admired his immobile form. She decided to count her blessings and take her leave.

Outside Andy had started up the APC which was being heavily defended for the arrival of the support group. At that moment Candy ran out of the building and joined the group at the APC. Things almost looked as though they were in the clear but they still heard heavy gunfire in the distance, Candy took it upon herself to investigate and rose up into the air to see the combat on the barge. Just as she intended to go there she was hit hard with a ball of distorted air. This caught everyone's attention and they turned to see Glory strolling through the broken gate.

"Did I mention how I hate super powered creatures, they are always so stubborn, and their powers make them feel invincible. Put them into the shoes of a regular person though and they haven't a clue what to do. I did say we'd finish it didn't I… well as I can tell we are both still alive therefore it hasn't been finished" said Glory.

Candy recovered quickly and engaged him, however to her surprise he evaded the hit by floating into the air.

"Oh and by the way, before anyone goes thinking I'm a hypocrite I have something you should know. I am far different than a super powered creature" said Glory as he launched another blast of wind at Candy.

She quickly dodged it and closed in. dodging a slash and hitting him with a powerful punch that almost caused him to lose his levitation. He dodged another strike and managed to block a powerful hit. She inhaled and blew another gust of freezing breath at him locking his arms. She then rose above his head and spiked him to the ground with a powerful kick. She chose now to end it. She readied a dive-bomb and hurled herself towards him. Just as she neared him for the final blow he raised his left wrist blade up and impaled her through the chest. He rose up exhausted from the fight and held her up to his face while she still hung on the blade and he observed the painful expression in her eyes.

"Like I said, I hate super powered creatures. You may feel invincible but there are many ways to defeat you, it just takes a little creativity… unfortunately I no longer have my gel but I so have a way to make you more manageable" said Glory.

Glory grabbed Candy by the head and slowly slid her off of his blade, her blood spurting out around it. As she slid what looked like a ball of blue energy was being drawn out. When she was off of the blade he dropped her onto the ground. The strange blue energy in his hand pulsed a couple times before he raised his hand and it popped into glittery dust.

Candy struggled to her feet as Glory turned to the others.

"Now, that's about as good as I'm going to do for now. You ready to let me finish what I came for-" said Glory before a shot rang out from an unknown location and knocked him to the ground.

The exhausted creature staggered to his feet feeling weaker as he turned to see where the shot came from.

"Damnit Diz" the creature said looking off into the distance.

At the boat Sky had his weapon warmed up and was prepared to fire just as the rabbit charged from his cover with his axe raised guarding the wave of bullets coming at him. As he neared Sky another shot rang out rocked him. He looked into th distance and seen nothing. The rabbit growled in fury as he charged off of the ship and made his way to land. Sky looked at Reuger and Reuger looked at Sky.

"Boat's over there" said Sky "Brass will probably believe that you just got busted out, can't say the same for the rest of what just happened… get out of here."

Reuger didn't speak or question him as the group made their way to the small boat at the bottom of the ladder.

On shore Boom had showed up for a brief second to receive some gunfire from the others as Glory also hurried away.

"Thank you for your help bu I must be going" said Paul.

"You sure about that, you could stay at my place if you want to" Reuger offered.

"Thank you but I have business waiting for me elsewhere… I'm sure out paths will cross again. It is inevitable" said Paul as he left.

Reuger looked at the three who he got himself captured for.

"Let's go, Keni's waiting" said Reuger as they made their way to the group in the distance "It'll be great to be able to sleep in my own bed again."

[And that be the end, hope it was worth the wait… anyways for lack of anything else to say make sure to review… or tell me how much you hate it. that's all I can think of so… yea… yea.]


	14. Karaoke Night

[as you can probably guess this is another relaxation chapter. Coin has an important message for you so keep an eye out and enjoy]

After yet another exhausting day everyone slept like logs. Nobody could be comfortable with this but despite everything all they could do was wait and see what information they were able to obtain from the military. The first house to finally stir was Lisa's, as it was the ones who made out the worst yesterday were Candy and Thorn who were staying at her house. Thanks to Araya they were able to heal up Candy's wounds, though they may not have ended up killing her it only helped to heal her. She was tired but awake on Lisa's couch and struggled to sit up, she did not feel like herself. Thorn however was asleep, in fact she passed out on the way back home. Torch and Keni stayed to keep an eye on her.

"So you haven't seen Robby yet either?" Laurel asked.

"Not since the flood" Keni replied, suddenly recalling what Diz had told her. "Oh wait, I just remembered something, you don't happen to know a guy named Diz do you?"

"Can't say we do, why?" laurel asked.

"That's weird, he's the guy who told me that you had been taken by the military… but he also told me something about Robby… he told me that he'd been taken by something even worse than the military, then you guys said that he'd been taken too. Was this guy there when it happened?" Keni asked, but mainly to herself.

"If he was one of the soldiers then maybe, we didn't see anyone else though" said Ayb.

"I see… a lot of stuff's happened recently. First off we had a bunch of houses burn down, that was the day before all of us in Petunia's house went to birch Tree Town" said Keni.

She grew silent trying to recall everything that had occurred. She then recalled the meet they had after the burnings… maybe it was time for another. Keni felt that whatever had been happening was important.

Skyler sat near Thorn, as did Torch. She was still asleep. Torch checked her temperature but she seemed fine.

"You sure there's nothing wrong Torch?" Skyler asked.

"She's checked out fine for every test, maybe she's just fatigued from everything that happened yesterday" Torch suggested.

Skyler didn't seem convinced, something still bothered him. Moments later there was a knock at the door and Lisa answered it. Behind the door stood Twitchy. She was carrying a case in her hand.

"Morning Lisa, I came to check up on the casualties we had yesterday" said Twitchy.

Twitchy looked around to see Candy rising to her feet and Thorn asleep on a chair.

"How are you doing Candy?" Twitchy asked.

Candy glanced over in Twitchy's direction.

"Don't know Shaky" she said stretching out her arms.

Twitchy could see that something bothered her. The sugar glider made her way outside and Twitchy approached Thorn.

"Anything Torch?" Twitchy asked.

"Not yet" Torch responded.

Twitchy placed her case onto the floor and opened it. It was full of vials and small containers filled with substances and other various items. From it she pulled out an empty syringe. She removed it from it's wrapper and took hold of Thorn's arm feeling for the vain. She positioned her hands and stuck the needle into the sleeping cat's arm who did not stir. She pulled the plunger and extracted half a syringe of blood. She brought it and her case over to Lisa's coffee table. Twitchy set up a number of vials and dropped a few blood samples into them. Twitchy had a suspicion about what was happening after taking note of the wounds she suffered. Only one of the wounds bothered her however, the bite. She took an eye dropper full of fluid and dropped some drops into some samples, she took another and did the same. She then removed a microscope and set it up putting another blood sample on a slide.

"What are you looking for?" Skyler asked concerned.

"She was bitten by one of those things right? I think she might have been poisoned" Twitchy replied.

"What!" Skyler said horrified.

"You sure Twitchy? I tested for a bunch of types, it looks like she's just asleep" said Torch.

"You never know, those things were weird, it wouldn't surprise me if they had some kind of weird poison too" said Keni.

Twitchy inspected the blood sample, looking for the presence of toxins of any sort. As it was she did notice something, pale blue particles mixed in with the blood. After seeing that she quickly turned her attention to the samples in the chemicals and as she thought one had reacted. With what she seen she quickly identified it as some form of tranquilizer, yet it was organic.

"Yep something definitely poisoned her, how is she Torch?" Twitchy asked.

"Still fine" Torch replied.

"Will she be ok?" Skyler asked terribly worried.

"Well it doesn't look like the poison's really doing anything aside from making her sleep. If it's like a tranquilizer then she should wake up soon" said Twitchy.

Twitchy looked back at the blood samples but found herself troubled. One of the blood samples had adopted a green hue.

Outside Candy sat in the grass as Dubble made his way outside. He sat on a lawn chair and attempted to doze off as Candy rose to her feet. Candy looked to a bush in the front yard , turned to it, took a deep breath, and blew hard at it. Dubble realized what she was doing and noticed that nothing happened.

"So is that what that guy did? Took your powers?" Dubble asked.

She said nothing and tried again. Dubble could feel the cold air from her breath but there was no way it could freeze anything.

"Looks like you're better off as a refrigerator now" said Dubble.

She looked at him, clearly frustrated and downtrodden. She developed a weakly determined look and ran across the yard. Near the end of the run she stuck out her arms in a desperate attempt to take flight. She was glad as her body lifted but only for a moment as she quickly crashed to the ground.

"Ha ha ha, tollen flying Candy!" said Jilly as he left the house.

Candy pushed herself up from the ground and got to her feet. She was desperate to overcome this. She ran again and rose up from the ground only to crash yet again. After every attempt Jilly found himself laughing and Candy found herself growing even more determined. She readied herself again and ran. Her body lifted from the ground. this time however she actually stayed up. Her face lit up with excitement as her powers seemed to return she flew herself around the yard and looked down at Jilly who had stopped laughing. She made distance between the house and herself and flew towards it. She was flying calmly and relaxed. she still didn't feel completely back to normal so she chose not to push herself, however as she approached Dubble she suddenly felt an intense surge of energy. Without warning she felt herself propel at incredible speed directly into Dubble and through Lisa's wall. The impact stunned her momentarily as she stood up. Dubble had been knocked out. Candy looked around at the faces staring back at her. Lisa stared in horror at the hole in the wall and the knocked out dog in the middle of her living room.

"Ha ha! Tollen job Candy!" said Jilly.

"How… how did you manage this!" said Lisa shocked.

"I, I don't know, I'm sorry!" she said feeling terrible.

"She just went crazy, she tried to kill double so she plowed him through your house" said Jilly.

"I did not Jacky! Lucy I'm sorry!" said Candy.

Lisa was at a loss for words. This was extremely stressful and she almost sprayed.

"So that's what that guy did to you, I thought he'd taken your powers… instead it looks like you no longer have control over them" said Thunder as he stood at the top of the stairs.

Candy was silent, she realized that that was exactly what it was… it greatly bothered her.

"Would anyone object to another meeting?… there's a lot to discuss at this point" said Thunder.

"I agree with Thunder" said Keni quickly.

"Let me guess, you plan on having everyone meet here right?" said an irritated Lisa.

"It's between both houses, not to mention we already have people from both houses here anyway. This is the best place to have it" said Thunder.

Lisa was annoyed but she knew Thunder was right, she chose to just let it happen.

"So long as you get this mess cleaned I don't care how many people come" said Lisa.

With that Keni made the calls to Remmie and Petunia's houses. Ansom and Araya however did not know their parent's motel room's phone number, they figured they could quickly get them as everyone else made their way to Lisa's and left.

Araya and Ansom made their way to the motel. Ansom hated it but he knew his family was already in this with them. Ansom could feel the aura of wrongness that had circled the ones from yesterday and was hoping to gain a better understanding of the situation. He felt the worst for Araya, she shouldn't have had to get involved, even now she knew very little about what was going on, all she wanted to do was play. Ansom envied her innocence.

The two managed to arrive at the motel. As they passed by Bious's room they noticed that the blinds were closed though they could hear the TV on the inside. As usual they wanted nothing to do with him. Instead they passed to the room that their sisters and mother had been staying and knocked. There was a brief pause before Qiuki opened the door.

"Hello Ansom, hello Araya" Qiuki said.

Araya greeted her mother with her regular hug.

"Hey mom. how have you all been doing?" Ansom asked.

"Oh not bad, your father has been more reclusive than we thought he'd be. He hasn't come in to bother us… he's just been inconsiderate and noisy." said Qiuki.

"Well anyways I came to get you, we're having a get together at Lisa's to discuss recent events" said Ansom.

"Recent events? Alright then the girls and I can come" said Qiuki.

Qiuki motioned to the twins to come with her and they all left with Araya and Ansom.

When they returned to Lisa's everyone was already present. It also appeared that Reuger had been called too as he sat with the group.

"Your here, let's get started. I've called this meeting to discuss everything that's happened. the first time we met like this it was to discuss several arsons. Recent events have likely risen in severity over those arsons. We all know that there's been trouble almost since we came here. The arson investigation turned up little to nothing of value when we investigated it initially aside from a few pieces of candy found at the scenes. However there was no foreseeable motive for the crime. I'd also like to take note that the suspect Nutty who was ruled out hasn't been seen in town lately… around the time Cuddles seemed to disappear. After the burnings Keni and the rest of Petunia's household went to explore birch Tree Town. There they found no trace of Keni's friends, she almost died, and you discovered the military presence. Soon after Remmie's house was attacked by the creature we now know as Boom. A few days later Jilly found a bomb that resembled one that Boom had used on Petunia and everyone. The next major event after that was what we did yesterday" Thunder explained.

There was silence as people did their usual theory development prepared to toss ideas around.

"So, you think there's a possibility that these are all connected, they all did seem to contribute to the string of events we've been experiencing" said Petunia.

"Could be… the arsons seem a bit out of place though compared to military research and monsters" said Torch.

"Well we have a lot to discuss, let's start off with the monsters" said Thunder.

"Alright, so who do we know of… let's see, there's Glory and Boom who we already know about. They seemed to work as a team, one attacked the boat, another the facility. It looked like they wanted to get the military out of there" said Andy.

"Well we can't forget about those creatures they had with them" said chunky.

"Yea, those things were everywhere, even we who weren't involved with the infiltration got overrun with them" said Eme.

"Yea, what's with that? If they wanted to take out the base then why would those lizards be prowling around in force outside of it?" asked Kurt.

"Maybe they're mindless. Maybe they just do whatever their instincts tell them" said Twitchy.

"What use would Glory and Boom find in mindless creatures, aside from cannon fodder" said Dubble.

"Hang on a second" started Reuger. "I just thought of something. you said there were a bunch in the facility right. But most of them had been killed along with most of the soldiers. You still came across some but then Glory showed up and you didn't see any. There were only a couple in the ship. However the group Thunder put on standby was attacked in force… just a thought but it sounds like they were deployed according to the number of people they were to fight."

"That does make sense… but then why was I attacked by so many while I was by myself" said Candy.

"because you're powerful, power was also a factor in their strategy, I doubt we'd have seen so few in the base compared to the number of guards stationed in there if Glory hadn't come too" said Lilith.

"So again we are at a loss for motivation, whatever their reasons they did considerable damage to the base" said Alexis.

"That was the third time Boom showed himself though. He attacked us at Remmie's and Skyler says that he was being carried off by him" said Midnight.

"Maybe we should shift our focus to him then. When he attacked my house he didn't seem to care about anybody but Twitch. Skyler and Belle were being carried by him the day before yesterday. He then took part in attacking the boat yesterday. When he attacked my house he killed Splendid. Then yesterday Glory talked about how he hated super powered creatures… there's definitely a method behind their actions. They based on what occurred as a whole, they either targeted the military or were after us" Remmie explained.

"Why would they be after us" said Ansom.

"Well the day We settled in to Petunia's house Rose and I seen something. It was hard to tell but we think it was carrying someone. We think the creature was Boom. That along with everything else we know it may sound crazy but I think Boom was trying to capture us. I mean think about it, they killed Splendid and ruined Candy's powers. It would make sense that they'd want to take out our protection like that. And I remember us talking about how Boom didn't seem interested in killing anyone and was focusing on Twitch. Whether they're trying to capture us or kill us though there isn't enough to tell" Alexis explained.

"Well that may explain the burnings if they are involved in any way, it'd make sense that they'd force us together to make capture easier" said Thunder.

"Makes sense… but if they wanted to do that then why not burn down other houses like Petunia's or Remmie's and force us to stay at Lisa's" said Rose.

"We could probably stay just about anywhere, take down all the houses and how could you grantee that we'd all say in one. They only burned homes of the people who had one here, and they moved their stuff outside and had it put into storage… no mater what the burnings still make no sense" said Lilith.

"Well other than the burnings we had that crucifix in the park, as well as a bunch more outside of Town" said Kurt.

"We don't really know enough about those to make an assessment about them" said Thunder.

"What about that freak we found in Keni's lab Diz" said Kurt.

"You think he may have something to do with this?" Alexis asked.

"I don't know, the guy was pretty screwy though" said Kurt.

"Well I remember him telling me about Laurel, Ayb, and Robby. Meaning he already knew about them… the guy's definitely a mystery himself" said Keni.

"Yea, and then he managed to shoot her with me in the way" said Petunia.

Everyone was silent trying to think of what to make of Diz… but nothing came.

"Well… anyone else think it's safe to say Diz is too much of an unknown to make anything of?" Andy asked.

The group had realized yet again that they were still completely stumped.

Well it's possible that these disappearances have had something to do with what's been going on. Keni has yet to find anything on the water research we still have a couple leads to follow but until then I say meeting adjourned" Thunder said.

Everyone was silent as most of them were unsatisfied with their results.

"So anyway, coin's coming soon right? If I remember his show will be in a couple of hours. If anyone else is going I think we should get ready" said Reuger.

Thanks to the meeting most people had forgotten. They chose to part ways to their own households. As Remmie's arrived to his own they noticed Russell standing outside the door knocking.

"Russell?" Remmie asked.

The otter turned to look at him.

"Oh, ahoy Remmie. I just be here look'n fer someone ta go with ta Coin's show" he said.

"Oooh oooh, you can come to it with us Russie!" said Twitchy plowing her way to the front of the group.

"Can I lassie, fantastic then" said Russell happily.

Twitchy jumped up and down excitedly, grabbed his hand, and dragged him into the house As the others followed. Inside everyone gathered their things that they intended to bring. Remmie noticed the light on his answering machine flashing and looked to see that he had five messages. He pressed the button to hear Lifty's voice.

"Hello umm… Eme, it's uh Lifty, umm I was just calling because Coin's in town and I was umm… wondering if you wanted to go… with… me, umm… call me back if you get this message ok umm… see ya…" said the voice.

Remmie switched to the next message.

"Hey Eme it's me again… just calling to see if you're there umm… no… ok call me back" it said again.

Remmie listened to the next three messages that were all of Lifty and he realized that this was within an hour time frame.

"Was that Lifty?" Eme asked.

"Yep, guess he wants to talk to yo-" said Remmie before the phone rang again.

He looked at the caller id to see that it was Lifty again.

"Here you go Eme" Remmie said handing the phone to her.

Eme eagerly took it and began to chat with Lifty. A short period of time elapsed as everyone got ready. Remmie then led everyone outside and began the walk to the comedy club. Eme had successfully se herself up a date with her and Lifty.

"Damnit I knew you'd do this, take me to some comedy club for my birthday, they'd better have a bar there" growled Midnight.

"You could have stayed home if you wanted to" said Tiny.

"Don't piss me off hamster" Midnight growled.

Tiny let out a laugh.

Remmie's group was the first to arrive at the club which was already quite full of patrons. Remmie observed the room. Wit was spacious with a number of tables set up with scarlet tablecloths draped over them. The first thing Remmie noticed was the smell of the buffet that had been set up. He picked a table a little ways away from the small stage and sat as the others chose their seats. When he seen her Lifty waved Eme down and she joined him and his brother at the table. Shifty looked fairly annoyed with his brother. Remmie and Chunky mad their way to the buffet table and filled up their plates. Most of the group was surprised to see soldiers there including Sky. Naturally Reuger had made his way over to his friend and sat beside him.

"Hey Sky, how are things?" Reuger asked.

"Ahh. As you probably know our base was destroyed quite well. Brass is still on the ropes about what to do so for now I'm on leave. Most of the men got killed and a lot of our work lost" said Sky.

"Well it's over now, least you're still alive and you get a break" said Reuger.

"You know, coin got himself an assistant who requested that this be a karaoke night, apparently it'll all be set up after his performance… you know what I'm thinking?" Sky asked Reuger.

Reuger knew because he was thinking the same thing.

Eventually Petunia and Lisa's groups made their way into the club and took their seats. Skyler had stayed home to keep an eye on Thorn. Ayb noticed the army and grew tense, he still held animosity towards them but Laurel chose that they stay out of trouble. However Nicky began to cry again.

"Awe come on! You were great this morning what's the matter now!" said Laurel frustrated.

They moved to a table far from the soldiers and Nicky stopped crying.

"Good, now we can all enjoy the show" said Laurel.

Moments later a cat appeared on stage. She had very light blue fur with purple stripes around her eyes and on her cheeks. Her ears were fairly large with thick white fur at the tips. She had light blonde hair that cut off just below her shoulders with bright green tips. Her tail had thick fur that was bright green and white at the tips. Her belly was white, she wore a green scarf and had bright green eyes.

"Welcome one and all to Coin and Komei's fabulous comedy and karaoke night. I'm Komei and we all already know colorful little Coin, without further ado. I welcome Comedy parrot Coin to the stage! Welcome coin!" the cat said in high spirits.

The moment after she said this the parrot took to the stage. His feathers were mostly red with a lighter red stomach. He had six stripes extending from each eye with each one being a different color of the rainbow. His paws were light green with green, blue, and purple wings attached to them. He had a red tail with orange tips and a red head crest.

"Good afternoon Happy tree town, I see we're all looking _lively_ today" Coin joked.

A good chunk of the audience laughed at this but Reuger was clearly the loudest. Chunky also laughed spewing food bits onto Tiny.

"You know, something I've always wondered about my pal Splendid, we've all seen the havoc he wreaks when trying to save someone… I bet if he tried to kill someone, he'd never be able to do it you know what I mean!" he said.

He got less of a reaction this time… but Reuger made it look otherwise.

He went on like this pointing out the many flaws of the towns people but it was mostly just Handy who got angry at his. The reactions he had been given were fairly positive overall and his time eventually expired.

"Well it was great performing for you guys I think I'll be sticking around here for a while so I'll see you all later" said Coin.

[Coin the turned his head looking directly at you… that's right, all of you.

"Ok I've got something you all should know. It's time to sing, if you want to be as immersed as possible I recommend listening to the songs as they are being sung. Some wretched fellow has taken the courtesy of giving you the song name and it's artist before it's sung, so go on you tube or use your fancy music devices to listen as you read" that's what Coin said]

"Who's he talking to?" Twisty asked

I think he's insane" said Trippy.

"Bravo Coin bravo, wasn't he great. As Coin informed you it's karaoke time! DJ Disco will be taking your song requests but you gotta be up here to sing them yourselves. I'll happily get you all in the mood to sing! Start it up Disco!" Komei shouted spiritedly.

"That's what you get' by Paramore Baby!" said Disco starting up the music.

Komei waited for her entrance.

**_Komei:_**

No sir, no I don't wanna be to blame, not any more

It's your turn, so take a seat we're settling, the final score

And why do we like to hurt so much?

I can't decide.

You have mad it harder just, to go on

And why all the possibilities, where I was wrong

That's what you get when you let your heart win

Wooooh oh woah oooh.

That's what you get when you let your heart win

Woah oh woaaahhh ohh

I drowned out all my sense with all if it's beating.

Well that's what you her when you let your heart win

Woaaah oooh woaah ohh

I wonder, how am I supposed to feel, when you're not here

'cause I've burned, every bridge I've ever built, when you were here

I still try, holding onto silly things, I never learn

Oh why, all the possibilities, I'm sure you've heard

That's what you get when you let your heart win

Woah oh woah ooooh oh.

That's what you get when you let your heart win

Wooaah oooh woaah oh.

I drowned out all my sense with all of it's beating.

And that's what you get when you let your heart win

Wohhh ohh woahhh ohh.

Pain make your way to me, to me. And I'll always be just so inviting

If I, ever start to think straight, this heart will start a riot in me

Let's start, start hey!

Why do we like to hurt so much? Oh why do we like to hurt so much?

That's what you get when you let your heart win

Woah oh wooah oh oh

That's what you get when you let your heart win

Woah oh woaaaaah.

That's what you get when you let your heart win.

Wooaah oh woah oh.

Now I can't trust my self with, anything but this.

And that's what you get when you let your heart win.

Woaaah ohhh woaaah ohhh woah ohhhhhhh.

Komei waited on stage for the song to finish and received an applause from the audience, they found her to be a great singer. This was one of Eme's favorite songs, she just felt a rush of energy and wanted to sing.

"Ok, I'm going up Lifty, wish me luck" she said as she rose from the seat.

"Good luck!" he shouted to her as she ran up to the stage.

"What the hell does she need luck for?" asked Shifty to Lifty.

Eme ran up to Disco and requested her song. She got in front of the microphone and waited.

"Alright, now we got Eme sing'n 'Candles' by Hey Monday, take it away girl" said Disco and when the music began she waited for her cue.

**_Eme:_**

The power lines went out, and I am all alone.

And I don't really care at all not answering my phone.

All the games you played, the promises you made.

Couldn't finish what you started only darkness still remains.

Lost sight, couldn't see when it was only you and me.

Blow the candles out, looks like a solo too night

I'm beginning to see the light.

Blow the candles out, looks like a solo too night

But I think I'll be alright.

Been black and blue before, There's no need to explain

I am not the jaded kind, playback's such a waste

Your invisible, invisible to me

My wish is coming true erase the memory of your face

Lost sight couldn't see, when it was only you and me.

Blow the candles out looks, like a solo tonight

I'm beginning to see the light.

Blow the candles out looks like a solo tonight

But I think I'll be alright.

One day, you will wake up. Nothing but "your sorry's"

And some day, you will get back everything youuu gave me

Blow the candles out, looks like a solo tonight

I'm beginning to see the light

Blow the candles out, looks like a solo tonight

But I think I'll be alright

Eme waited for her music to end before getting off stage and receiving her round of applause and some whistling from Lifty. She felt proud to have stood up there and sang.

Next up was Toothy he had his song in mind and was set to sing. He approached Disco Bear and gave him his request before standing in front of the microphone.

"Alright we got Toothy sing'n a naughty one "Rebel Yell" by Billy idol like your style Toothy" said Disco

Toothy waited for his song to begin.

**_Toothy:_**

Last night a little dancer came dancin' to my door

Last night a little angel came pumping on my floor

She said "come on baby, I got a license for love

And if it expires pray help from above"

Because!

In the midnight hour, she cried more more more

with a rebel yell, she cried more more more

In the midnight hour babe more more more

With a rebel yell more more more

More more more

She don't like slavery, she won't sit and beg

When I'm tired and lonely she sees me to bed

What set you free and brought you to me babe

What set you free, I need you here by me

Because!

In the midnight hour, she cried more more more

With a rebel yell, she cried more more more

In the midnight hour babe, more more more

With a rebel yell, more more more

He lives in his own heaven

Collects it to go from the seven eleven

Well he's out all night to collect his fare.

Just so long, just so long it don't mess up his hair.

I walked the world with you babe

A thousand miles for you

I dried your tears of pain babe

A million times for you

I'd sell my soul for you babe

For money to burn, with you

I'd give you all and have none babe

Justa, justa, justa, justa, to have you here by me

Because

In the midnight hour, she cried more more more

With a rebel yell, more more more

In the midnight hour babe, more more more

With a rebel yell, she cried more more more

More more more

Oh yea little baby, she want more

More, more, more, more, more

Oh yea little angel, she want more

More, more, more, more, more

Toothy waited for his finish and received an applause, even from Disco bear. he gave Midnight a wink as he got off stage, pretty much as a joke as her name appeared numerous times in the song. she wanted to kill him.

"C'mon, torch, Twitchy, Bubble, we should go up there and sing umm… somewhere over the rainbow, I know that one by heart and I love it c'mon let's go sing it" Bubble pleaded.

"No way in hell I'm going up to sing that damn song" said Dubble.

"Ok then, Russie, you wanna come sing it with us?" Twitchy asked.

Dubble's expression changed.

"Well I aint see'n why not, let's go sing" said Russell.

The group of them rose up followed bu Dubble who had shoved Russell aside.

"Fine, if you want me to sing so bad then I guess there's no shutting you up about it, let's get this over with already" said Dubble.

They all made there way over to Disco bear and told him what they were to sing. Russell still went up to sing with them as did Coin and Swindle who had been working back stage.

"Alright, we've got uhh… somewhere over the rainbow by umm… it's in the wizard of oz… I guess that's groovy… anyways here we go" said Disco bear" the music started and the group waited for their cue to sing in unison.

_**Twitchy and her posse:**_

Some where over the rainbow… way up high

There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow… skies are blue

And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true

Some day I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me

Where troubles melt like lemon drops away above the chimney tops that's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow… bluebirds fly

Birds fly over the rainbow why then oh why can't I

If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow… why oh why can't I.

They waited for the music to end then descended the stage. The audience's applause was mostly as a result of how cute it was. However Lilith wanted to heat things back up, she did not like the atmosphere shift that their singing had caused and approached Disco Bear with her request.

"Alright y'all, Lilith bring'n some fire to this party she's gonna sing 'Our Truth' by Lacuna Coil" said Disco.

Lilith stood before the microphone and waited for her cue to start.

**_Lilith:_**

Woaaaaah oh woahohao woahoooahhoahoo

Woaaaaah oh woahohao woahoooahhoahoo

Woaaaaah oh woahohao woahoooahhoahoo

Woaaaaah oh woahohao woahoooahhoahoo

Clock is ticking while I'm killing time. Spinning all around

Nothing else that you can do to turn it back.

Wicked partnership in this crime. Ripping off the best

Condescending smile

Trying too forget

We're falling right through

Lying too forget

We're raising our truth

Go on and tease me

(at this point Midnight had climbed onto the stage to sing as well)

_**Lilith and Midnight:**_

Clock is ticking while I'm stealing time. Can't you turn it back

Stop the cycle, let it fee, run away

Silent sneaking along my path

Rugged the road but we feel it like we're flying

Trying too forget

We're falling right through

Lying to forget

We're raising our truth

Trying to forget

We're falling right through

Lying to forget

We're raising our truth

Woaaaaah oh woahohao woahoooahhoahoo

Woaaaaah oh woahohao woahoooahhoahoo

Woaaaaah oh woahohao woahoooahhoahoo

Woaaaaah oh woahohao woahoooahhoahoo

At that Lilith and Midnight made their way off of the stage.

The next two were Sky and Reuger who approached Disco bear and requested their song.

"Looks like the crowd still wants some heat to the show give it up for Sky and Reuger singing 'Bad Company' the Five Finger Death Punch version" said Disco as the two waited for their cue.

_**Sky and Reuger:**_

A company. Always on the run

A destiny. It's the rising sun

I was born. A shotgun in my hands

Behind a gun. I'll make my final stand.

That's why they call me, bad company and I can't deny

Bad bad company till the day I die

Until the day I die

Until the day I die

Rebel souls. Deserters we've been called.

Chose a gun. And threw away the sun

Now these towns. They all know our names

The death punch sound! Is our claim to fame

And that's why they call me.

Bad company, I can't deny

Bad bad company till the day I die

Until the day I die

Until the day I die

Until the day I die

**_Reuger:_**

An eye for an eye

A tooth for a tooth

**_Sky:_**

Blood for blood

Sky and Reuger:

We've all gotta die

We've all gotta die

And that's why they call me.

Bad company, I won't deny

Bad bad company till the day I die

Bad company, I won't deny

Bad bad company till the day I die

Until the day I die

Until the day I die

Until the day I die

Until the day I die!

The two ended with a high energy applause from the crowd. The metal was getting them hyped. Next up was Andy and Kurt who approached Disco bear.

"Alright cats, this is out final song, tonight Kurt and Andy will be singing "Leave it Alone" by Disturbed!" said Disco energetically.

Kurt and Andy waited for their cue.

_**Andy:**_

I can't control my anger and I've been

about to explode far too many times.

I see my dreams becoming more violent

every time that I see you.

No matter how you try to define it

I have been broken too many times.

Too much emotion too long confined has

weakened the wall that protect you

Ease your mind

This moment will pass if you just

Kurt and Andy:

Leave it alone leave it alone every time

My dysfunction is on your mind

When you find that you're at odds with your desire

Just leave it alone leave it alone every time

Ministration is on your mind

Before you find that you have tested my resolve one to many times

**_Kurt:_**

I am no stranger you know I've been

pressed to the wall far too many times

Stop your behavior or you'll find my

Murderous nature surrounds you

Others have wandered over the line that

Awaken the monster too many times

Leave it unspoken and you'll find an

End to the violence if you can

Ease your mind

This moment will pass if you just

_**Kurt and Andy:**_

Leave it alone leave it alone every time

My dysfunction is on your mind

When you find that you're at odds with your desire

Just leave it alone leave it alone every time

My destruction is on your mind

Before you find that you have tested my resolve one too many times

Ease your mind

This moment will pass if you just

Leave it alone leave it alone every time

My dysfunction is on your mind

When you find that your at odds with your desire

Just leave it alone leave it alone every time

My destruction is on your mind

Before you find that you have tested my resolve one to many times.

They waited for their song to end and received a triumphant applause. However it had gotten late. And after a brief discussion they decided to leave. Everyone had made their way back to the houses and settled in.

"Hey Remmie, could you come here for a second?" Twitchy called from the spare room.

Remmie followed the voice to se both Twitchy Eme, Trippy and Twisty standing in there.

"Remmie do you mind if I test a sample of your blood" Twitchy asked.

"Umm… I guess so, what for?" Remmie asked noticing everyone else with bandages on their arms.

Remmie stuck out his arm and Twitchy stuck a needle in as Remmie stared transfixed on watching his blood enter the syringe and the weird feeling it created.

"I need it to check something. I've taken Eme's, Trippy's, Twisty's, and my own blood and tested them. I realized that Thorn's blood sample reacted the same way to the same chemical that I put into the water and the goop. I want to see if this is normal. So far everyone's blood samples have turned green" Twitchy explained as she dropped a few drops of Remmie's blood into the a vial.

Twitchy then used an eyedropper to introduce the chemical to the blood and they watched… but nothing happened.

"What's this now?" Remmie asked.

"Nothing, your blood is fine, why does ours react… either it's us who are normal or it's you" said Twitchy

[now was that fun folks. Let me know if you think I should do another song chapter like this or would like me to. Anyways do what you usually do. Also the one German word Jilly used in this was tollen meaning great. Also a disclaimer I have nothing to do with the existence of "That's what you get" that is Paramore's. "Candles" that is Hey Monday's. "Rebel Yell" that is Billy Idol's. "Somewhere over the Rainbow " that belongs to,,, I don't know, not me though. "Our Truth" that is Lacuna Coil's. "Bad company" that belongs to… well Bad Company. And the version I used belongs to Five Finger Death Punch. "Leave it Alone" which belongs to Disturbed. Good bye]


	15. Soggy Day

[hello my readers! It's been a while but here is chapter 15 of 6 Ways to Oblivion. I will not neglect this story again so I doubt we'll end up with another long wait. I have not added any of the newest OC's yet but I have plans for them. from now on it may not be possible for me to add more OC's as we are so far in. also, to answer your question on a different story's review Kenikitten. I did get a guess for what Lebewohl meant from you but I wanted to find the German word for goodbye and it happened to be the same! Also yay 100 reviews, ironic that #100 was a character submission... Anyway here we go!]

Twisty and Trippy awoke to the sound of rain hitting the sides of their glass room. If it wasn't for the sudden chill in the air they would have stayed but they were unable to return to sleep. Trippy brought her notebook as Twisty brought her doll and the two entered the house. From what they could see, everyone.

"Hey Twisty, you wanna try making breakfast for everyone again" Trippy asked.

Twisty looked to her sister.

"Ok… but umm… I don't think we did very good last time, Remmie had to take over" said Twisty.

"That's ok, we'll do much better this time, Remmie won't have to help us" said Trippy.

"Ok then" said Twisty happily.

The two spread out through the kitchen grabbing whatever ingredients they could find. After a short time and only knocking one bag of sugar to the ground the two had their ingredients.

"So what are we gonna make Trippy?" Twisty asked.

Trippy walked to a nearby shelf and pulled out a cook book. She ran her eyes over numerous recipes until she found one that looked good.

"Oooh, how does this sound Twisty. Breakfast pizza" said Trippy.

"Mmm that sounds good, let's make that Trippy" said Twisty.

The two looked into the book for a recipe for pizza dough and began to follow it. The first thing they did was fill a bowl with flour which Twisty succeeded in dumping all over the floor.

"Twisty, be more careful" said Trippy

"Ok" she replied.

They added the yeast and water as well as a few other ingredients until thy finally had their dough.

"What next Trippy?" Twisty asked.

"We need to roll it out" Said Trippy grabbing a rolling pin.

"Wait… we should make two, there's a lot of people here" Twisty suggested.

"You're right. I'll make more dough, you can roll this one while I'm doing that ok?" Trippy asked.

"Ok" said Twisty.

Trippy began to make another bowl of dough while Twisty started rolling the dough.

"Umm… sis, I don't think it's working, the dough is sticking too much" said Twisty.

Twisty looked to her to see almost the entire ball of dough stuck to the rolling pin. Trippy approached her and removed most of the dough from the rolling pin.

"Alright, just try to make it into a big circle with your hands" said Trippy.

Trippy returned to her work as Twisty did her best to shape the dough. After a bit Trippy finished her dough and began working on it as well.

"Trippy, why won't the dough stay still? Every time I let go of it, it shrinks again" Twisty said.

"keep stretching it, it should stay eventually" said Trippy.

The two worked their dough until it finally took shape. Needless to say the dough had no identifiable shape afterwards but at least it was flat. they returned to the book and began to pick out the ingredients they needed from the pile they had dragged out. They followed the directions as best they could but hittable with the eggs. after the toil they finally managed to get the pizzas into the oven.

"Yay, we did it!" said Twisty excitedly.

Trippy examined the kitchen to see the mess they had made.

"Umm… we should clean this up before everyone wakes up" said Trippy.

"Whoa! What happened in here?" Chunky asked as he entered the room.

"Chunky! What are you doing up!" said Twisty alarmed.

"Getting breakfast, were you guys making something?" Chunky asked.

"Y-yea, pizza" said Trippy.

"Awesome!" said Chunky.

He was ready to return to the living room when he found himself compelled to help the two clean up their mess.

"Umm… you guys need help with anything?" Chunky asked.

"Well…" said Trippy looking at the mess and watching Twisty try to return a carton of eggs to refrigerator.

Chunky sighed as chivalry took over and forced him to help them clean. The mess took a while to clean but the trio finally managed it.

"Mmmm. Trippy, these pizzas smell good" said Twisty.

"Oh crap! I almost forgot about them, excuse me Twisty" said Trippy hurrying over to the oven.

Trippy removed the pizzas with an oven mit and set them on the counter to cool.

"Whew, that's done" said Trippy.

Chunky stared at the oddly shaped pizzas. Trippy noticed this and blushed.

"I'm an awful cook" said Trippy.

"Well… it smells good, I can't judge it until I've tried it" said Chunky "So what are you two doing up already?"

"The rain woke us up" said Trippy.

"Really… yea, come to think of it this is the first real rainstorm I've seen since the flood. I guess it's supposed to go on all day" said Chunky.

"Really? Awe Twisty and I were gonna go out for ice cream later" said Trippy.

"Awe yea, I could go for some ice cream to. Maybe you guys should cut the pizza now?" Chunky suggested.

"Oh yes" said Trippy.

Trippy grabbed the pizza cutter and began cutting. Eme's music could be heard playing from the basement and Twisty moved to the hall to listen to it. Everyone seemed to be waking up.

"Oh, I hope people like this" said Trippy worried.

Twitchy sat in her room, staring intently at her numerous samples and going crazy trying to figure them out. She began shoving candy into her mouth in hopes that the sugar would stimulate her mind. She heard someone enter the room and she turned her head to see that it was Twisty.

"Morning Twitchy. You look tired, are you ok?" Twisty asked.

"I'm fine Twisty, I was up for a while trying to figure this stuff out" said Twitchy.

"Oh, umm… well Trippy and I made food if you want breakfast" said Twisty.

"You guys made breakfast? Alright, I'm starving" said Twitchy sliding out of her chair.

The two made their way out of the storage and split off in the hallway as Twisty approached the basement. Twitchy suddenly felt a bit lightheaded and dizzy but quickly recovered as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Eme" Twisty called from the top of the stairs but received no response.

Twisty made her way down the stairs deeper into the music. She approached the couch Eme was reading on and poked her.

"Eme, Trippy and I made breakfast, do you want any?" Twisty asked.

Eme looked to her.

"Oh, sorry Twisty, yea I'll be up in a minute" said Eme.

"Ok" said Twisty.

The raccoon made her way back up stairs and entered the kitchen just as Remmie and Midnight made their way down the stairs. It seemed that everyone had gotten up and made their way to the kitchen. After a brief period of time everyone had gotten their pizza. Some stared, puzzled at it, especially since it was cooked by Trippy and Twisty. Chunky boldly took the first bite and was surprised to find that it was edible, good even.

"Wow, pretty good you guys" said Chunky.

"Thanks" said Twisty blushing.

Trippy was surprised to hear this.

"Really, th-thanks" Trippy said.

"Wow, you guys were actually able to make something edible, I'm impressed" said Midnight.

Most of the others agreed aside from the few who kept their opinions to themselves, if they had one.

Lisa's house had just finished their breakfast and everyone was doing what they could to keep themselves occupied for the day.

"So you're feeling better Skyler?" Thorn asked.

"I told you already, I've healed up fine, the real question is how are you feeling, you just woke up yesterday… you know you could have gone up and sang yesterday without me, I was fine" said Skyler.

"That wouldn't have been any fun with you just gawking at me from the audience when you could have been up there making a fool of yourself" said Thorn.

"Thanks" said Skyler with a laugh. "so… this has been on my mind for a while. You're so defensive around Rose, you know she's gonna find out eventually right?" Skyler asked.

"Oh please, Skyler not you too" said Rose.

"I'm serious, I see how you are, you would welcome her knowing who you are, your face seems to light up every time your cover's about to be blown. Then you force a scowl and do whatever you can to keep it hidden" said Skyler.

"Look, Skyler if you don't mind, I've had this conversation with enough people" said Thorn.

"I know, I know. But you're too defensive, it's almost like you refuse to hear anyone out in fear that you will be convinced. I'm not trying to tell you to do anything. Just do what you think is right" said Skyler.

Thorn was silent.

"Excuse me, Thorn, Skyler. Umm… would you guys like to try these. I know you just ate breakfast but I wanted to make these. They're spinach rolls, my mom taught me how to make them. They have spinach and cheese in them" said Belle holding a platter of spinach rolls in front of them.

They both took one and ate them.

"Wow Belle, these are pretty good" said Skyler.

"Thanks" said Belle blushing and staring at Skyler.

Thorn's eyes locked onto Belle's blush.

"Oh umm… Hey Lilith, Liliiith" said Belle moving over to her.

"How long were you two with each other?" Thorn asked.

Skyler thought for a moment.

"You know, I still can't remember… wait… there is something. I remember a room somewhere, she was there, so was someone else… I can't remember too much but I think it was another raccoon… that's about all I can remember" said Skyler.

"you'd better not be lying" said Thorn.

"Wait, what! I can barely remember anything, why would I be lying!" said Skyler.

"Oh umm, sorry, never mind" said Thorn, turning her head away with a blush.

In the basement Thunder sat leaning back in his chair with his feet on the table. With business concluded he really didn't have much else he wanted to do. He picked up a picture of Alexis and stared at it. He could hear the others prancing around the dance room and got up to close the door. His eyes wandered the room, every trinket telling a story. Some painful, others glorious. He stared again at the picture In his hand wishing the image in it was beside him right now. He placed the photograph onto the table and stared at it for a moment before grabbing his weapon and a coat. he made his way outside the room and looked over to the three in the room. Glitter performing tricks for Araya and Ansom watching them. He threw the hood over his head and made his way up stairs.

"Hey, where are you off to?" Lisa asked after seeing him.

"Petunia's house" said thunder.

"Wait a second Thunder, could you bring these to them" Belle said handing him a large bag of spinach rolls.

Thunder took them and made his way out the door.

Belle wandered around the house trying to find people to share her spinach rolls with when she noticed Candy sitting in Lisa's chair in a slump.

"Hey Candy, do you want a spinach roll?" Belle asked.

Candy glanced over to her and took one.

"Is something the matter Candy?" Belle asked.

The sugar glider glanced to Belle again and sighed.

"I'm alright Chimes" said Candy.

"Really?… you look sad" said Belle.

"She's just all winy cause she can't fly around anymore" said Jilly laying against his pack.

"Knock it off franky" said Candy.

"C'mon sad sack, the rest of us get along just fine without flashy powers, I don't see why you can't freaking handle it" said Jilly.

"How am I supposed to protect people from people like you if I can't do anything" said Candy.

"As you can probably guess I really don't care, I take care of my problems by blowing them to hell, ha ha ha" said Jilly.

Candy ignored him and looked away.

"It's ok Candy, I still think you're amazing" said Belle wrapping Candy in a tight hug.

Candy smiled and returned the hug. She could hear Jilly laugh and she gave him a dirty look.

The rain picked up a bit as Thunder made his way to Petunia's house. Without work there was nothing blocking the problems that everyone was facing out of his mind and a suppressed concern had begun to form. They rain didn't bother him in the least but the sound of footsteps behind him made him edgy. He prepared his weapon and spun around prepared to strike only to see a familiar face.

"Reuger" said Thunder.

"Thunder, what are you doing out here?" Reuger asked while dropping his fighting stance.

"I could ask you the same thing" said Thunder.

"I'm off to Petunia's house, see'n if anyone there's in the mood for a game of cards, it's been pretty dull at home lately" said Reuger.

"Winding down from the excitement huh? Same here" said Thunder.

"Yea, a bit more than I had been hoping for, almost ran out of meds in that cell, that wouldn't have been good. So where are you off to?" Reuger asked.

"Same place as you, think I'll take you up on that game of cards too" said Thunder.

"Alright" said Reuger.

The two began making their way to Petunia's house.

"So has the military moved out?" Thunder asked.

"From what I can tell, yea, they've been pretty much taking it easy since the disaster they suffered, good to see Sky made it out ok" said Reuger.

Thunder said nothing to that.

"Thanks for the help though, I don't know what Sky had in mind… I thought he changed, but he hasn't, which is good" said Reuger.

The two approached Petunia's house and knocked on the door. As it was, Petunia answered it.

"Reuger, Thunder, what are you two doing here?" Petunia asked.

"Stopped by for a visit" said Reuger.

The two removed their boots and coats and placed them just inside of the house. Everyone seemed to be keeping themselves entertained, especially Dubble playing with Silver. Torch looked over to them.

"Hey, Reuger, Thunder, how's it going?" Torch asked.

"Wet, that aside, I'm pretty good" said Reuger.

Thunder locked his eyes onto Alexis and made his way over to her.

"Hey thunder, how have you been?" Alexis asked excitedly.

"Not bad, you?" Thunder asked.

"Just fine, it's been pretty lively here today, despite the rain" said Alexis.

"I see, well it's good to see you're doing good, things have been pretty dull for me back at Lisa's" said Thunder.

"Let me guess, no work left for you? You should take a break Thunder, you did a lot to help everyone in the past few days, you deserve it" said Alexis.

Thunder smiled.

"Well, at least you're still around" said thunder.

"Hey Alexis, you wanna play pickup sticks with me and Silver?" Bubble asked.

"Sure. Glad to see you Thunder" said Alexis.

Reuger sat on the couch and began watching TV with Torch and Kurt.

"How's it going Reuger?" Kurt asked.

"Good, hey Petunia, did you get a new couch?" Reuger asked.

"No, that was Flaky's old one, I had to get it for those two" said Petunia.

"How thoughtful" said Kurt.

"So what, you just drop in to say hi?" Torch asked.

"Well, I came to see if anyone was up for a game of cards, but I'm just gonna relax for now" said Reuger.

Reuger's eyes fell to Torch's peg leg and his expression changed.

"Wha, the leg? Don't worry I'm pretty used to this thing now" said Torch.

"Umm… yea… so how have things been here in Happy Tree Town… aside from that crap we've been dealing with the past few days?" Reuger asked.

"Pretty good, I feel bad that I haven't really been visiting my sister, I'm sure it'd make her happy… So about Sky, it's been bothering me, is there something wrong with him?" Torch asked.

"He's got allot on his plate it looks. Aside from that, he's still the same old Sky I remember" said Reuger.

"Well that's reassuring, I was afraid he'd changed, capturing civilians defiantly wasn't like him" said Torch.

"Yea, I still don't know what that was about… but I'm sure he had his reasons… Enough about that though, things are looking up now" said Reuger.

"Yea it is, good thing too, I was getting sick of all that" said Torch.

In the storage room Keni worked with Laurel and ayb

"So how's it work'n?" Laurel asked.

"Great so far, I think I finally got it right this time, it hasn't exploded once yet" said Keni.

The trio worked together to rearrange things to make the room a bit more cozy.

"That's good, you said you went back to the lab to look for us… how did it look?" asked Ayb.

"Awful Ayb. It was flooded, junk was scattered everywhere, the only thing that I think was working in there was the flood pump, and not completely either" Keni ranted.

"Seriously!… all that work we put into it… do you think we'll ever be able to return there?" Asha asked.

"Well there isn't really much to return to, the town's probably still underwater anyway… besides, we need to find Robby before we think about that" said Keni.

The three sat down on a couch and relaxed.

"Find Robby huh? Do you have any idea where he is?" Laurel asked

"If you guys don't , I don't" said Keni.

"Did you even try to look for him yet?" Ayb asked.

"C'mon Ayb, you know that I would if I could… the only information we have is that he was taken" said Keni.

The small group found themselves concerned.

"Oh yea, Keni, how did you end up here anyway?" Ayb asked.

"Oh that… well, when I came to after the flood I had a note with me telling me to take the train to Happy Tree Town. Everyone else that was with me had them too. We made our way to the nearest train station and came here" Keni explained.

"If you came straight here after the flood then how did you get your stuff?" Laurel asked.

"I hade gotten what I could out of the lab for one thing. The rest of it was just with me when I woke up, mainly the pieces to the shelter" Keni explained.

"How did silver get here?" Laurel asked.

"I don't know, she was dropped off on the doorstep" said Keni.

Back at Remmie's everyone did what they could to keep themselves occupies, a task bit more difficult for Remmie's crew. Most of them sat bored in the living room watching Remmie, Chunky, and Twitchy play video games. Tiny and Midnight had been drowning their boredom in whisky and had finished their initial complaining.

In their glass room sat Twisty and Trippy, both had been feeling the same way as the other. Neither had felt comfortable since the flood and the chaos they had been enduring with the others had started getting to them.

"Trippy, do you think we'll ever be able to go back home?" Twisty asked.

Twisty was silent for a moment before she spoke.

"Of course, we just gotta wait for the town to clear up and we can go back and rebuild with everyone else" said Trippy.

"Are you sure Trippy?" Twisty asked.

"Of course" Trippy replied.

"Ok" said Twisty.

"What are you two wining about in here?" Midnight asked entering the room.

"Midnight. We were just talking about how we're going to rebuild the town when it clears up" said Trippy.

"Were ya… ha, live'n in the past. I hope you aren't getting your hopes up, that town is gone and it's only gotten worse there since the flood" said midnight.

"I know… but it was our home, don't you wanna go back?" Trippy asked.

"I don't get tied down like that, I'm content living wherever, as long as there's plenty to keep me occupied" Midnight explained.

There was a knock on the door which surprised Remmie as he had doubted anyone would want to be out in this weather. He paused the game and made his way to the door. When he opened it he found a dripping Flaky and Toothy standing before them. Toothy wore a dark poncho while Flaky wore a yellow raincoat.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Remmie asked.

"We lost power, Flaky came by and we decided to pay you a visit. How's everyone doing?" Toothy asked.

"Ah, a bit of wining earlier but we haven't had any other problems since. I guess everyone's doing alright. You never want to do something more than when you can't do it" said Remmie.

"Yea, I know what you mean" said Toothy.

The two made their way inside and removed their rain gear then sat beside Chunky and Twitchy and joined them in their game.

"So have you heard any word from Cuddles?" Chunky asked.

"Nope… all we can really do is wait for him to turn up" said Toothy.

"You know, this is supposed to escalate into a thunder storm later" said Flaky.

"Cereal! Well that's lousy" said Twitchy.

"Really, awe man, I need to get a new pair of headphones too" Eme complained.

"Your not serious… screw it I'm going skating, I just don't give a fuck anymore" said Tiny.

"Umm… are you sure you want to do that… you might catch a cold" said Flaky.

"Well it beats sit'n in here all day, see ya" said Tiny bringing his skateboard outside.

At Petunia's house Reuger finally had managed getting a poker game going. He also gave Flippy a call and had him join them. They played for a while before finding themselves falling off the topic of gambling.

"Who's leg am I bumping into?" Torch asked.

Everyone at the table looked at one another but nobody responded. Torch kicked harder before being struck with a sharp pain in his foot. After a grunt he pulled his leg out to see Silver's myth latched onto his foot.

"Damnit, Keni! Come get your daughter!" Called Torch.

Keni made her way out of the storage room.

"Bubble, I told you to look after him, silver let go, let go of Torch's foot Silver" Keni ordered.

The wolf turned her eyes to Keni and let go.

"Sorry about that torch" said Keni.

"That was my last foot, nah, it's fine Keni" said Torch.

"Well that's good… bad Silver" said Keni.

"Torch hit me with his foot" wined Silver.

"He was under the table for god knows what reason. I thought I was kicking Flippy" said Torch.

"Come on, it's time to feed you anyway" said Keni bringing her into the storage room.

"So you three were in W.A.R.?" Andy asked.

The three veterans expressions changed, for Reuger and Torch, it had become story time.

"Yea, we were actually, same squad even" said Reuger.

"Yea? Who was your commanding officer?" Andy asked.

"I was" said Reuger.

"You're sit'n me? Well you are field marshal I guess" said Andy.

"I wasn't during the tiger wars. I was almost picked at random really, most of the regiment were drafted civilians, believe me, they never expected us to survive, let alone return as war hero's" said Reuger.

"Huh? I always thought Flippy here commanded" said Andy.

"Yea, you might think that now, but truth is, Flippy was awful, and I'm not just saying that, but some of the drafted soldiers were better than him" Torch explained.

"Oh c'mon Torch, don't talk like I'm not here, I wasn't that bad" said Flippy

"let's see, some of your screw ups… well there were a couple times at the shooting range that you forgot to load a clip, not to mention the safety was still on. In fact, there were a couple of battles that turned out the same way. You had a very hard time making your bed. You even left our ammo bag behind once" Torch explained.

"Well at least I never got captured" said Flippy.

At that, Reuger's expression faded slowly into despair. His eyes turned to Torch and then down to the table.

"Awe jeez… sorry" Flippy apologized.

"Awe damnit Reuger, don't start-" said Torch before he was cut off.

"I shouldn't have let that happen" said Reuger.

"Reuger, c'mon" said Torch.

"Damnit, I'm such an idiot… how did I… why the fuck am I so stupid" Reuger growled to himself.

"Damnit Reuger you're not stupid, you had no way of knowing we were walking into a trap" said Torch.

"I should have seen the signs. If it wasn't for my god damn fuckup you'd still have two legs" said Reuger.

"That was then Reuger, how many times do I have to tell you it wasn't your fault, and even if it was I would forgive you" said Torch

Reuger fell silent but continued staring at the table. In fact everyone did for a moment.

"Sorry i brought it up" said Flippy looking down.

"Don't worry about it Flippy… think I'm just gonna go" said Reuger.

"Oh no you're not. The rain is supposed to get even worse. You're gonna stay here for the night" Petunia ordered.

Reuger was again silent for a moment.

"Alright… well then, we might as well finish this game" said Reuger.

Nearby sat Rose. Listening to their conversation reminded her of her own issue. She grabbed hold of the item beneath her shirt and looked down to it. Her mouth formed words but she stayed silent. Alexis noticed this and grew curious but stayed where she was.

The rain had begun falling harder and the sky began growing dark. That aside Tiny still enjoyed skating in this weather. He had gone to a park on the edge of town to use at his leisure. He found a stone edge to the park that would make for an excellent grind. He readied himself at the furthest end, picked up speed, and hopped onto it grinding his way down the rail. As he neared its end hid board tilted too much and dug into the grass launching him into a large wooden post. He grabbed his head and got up, backing away from what he it. What he seen however was a horrible, yet familiar sight. The post was a large wooden cross with a lifeless Tree friend bound to it with a white rose growing from it's mouth it was unidentifiable in the dark.

Lisa's house was relatively quiet. Lilith was relaxed in the hot tub with Araya and Belle while the others sat and watched television. Ansom sat. his fur slightly bristled and his scythe by his side.

"What's the matter with you?" Dubble asked.

Ansom didn't respond right away.

"I don't know…" said Ansom, he was clearly on edge.

Dubble gave him a nasty look.

"If there is something wrong you should probably tell us what it is" suggested Candy.

"I would if I knew" said Ansom, his head turned to Araya.

"Whatever, some people get tense when they can feel a storm coming" said Dubble.

Ansom sighed uncomfortably.

"Is something Wrong big brother?" Araya asked.

"No" Ansom said calmly.

Lilith looked out the window beside the hot tub. It was dark but she could see flashes of lightning. The door swung open to reveal Thunder returning from Petunia's. he removed his rain gear and carried it to his room in the basement.

"Whew, glad he came back when he did" said Lisa.

"Yea, shit's start's to hammer down out there now" said Lilith.

Sounds of thunder were readily approaching and the wind picked up. Lilith noticed shadows when the lightning flashed that sparked her imagination but paid them little mind.

"Was this what it was like when you guys got flooded?" Lisa asked.

"Believe it or not, it was actually a lot harder, plus the waves from the ocean were pretty bad" Thorn explained.

"Glad Happy Tree Town is so big… well, at least spacious. it would take a bit for the sea water to reach here" said Lisa.

Remmie's house was quiet aside from the faint sounds of Eme's music, the game that was being played, and the storm brewing outside. Midnight was asleep on the couch and Twitch had somehow run himself ragged despite no one having seen him today before now. Twitchy felt a sense of lightheadedness again and paused the game.

"Is something wrong Twitchy?" Flaky asked.

Twitchy closed her eyes. The darkness of her eyelids flashed with a light blue flurry. It was subtle but she felt her mind open. She could hear something, it sounded like wind maybe? Hr head felt cold as if the heat was being drained from her brain. The noise grew louder. It had begun to sound like a voice, it sounded like a faint chuckle at first.

"Twiiithcyyy Twiiiitchyyyyy, hmm hmm hmm, it's nearly time Twitchy, it's nearly time, hmm hmm hmm hmm" sounded the voice.

In a flash of light Twitchy was awake, laying on the floor.

"Twitchy! Are you alright!" Toothy asked concerned.

Twitchy took a minute to regain her composure.

"That… what the hell…" said Twitchy.

"What happened?" Chunky asked.

"I… that was weird… I heard someone, at least I think I did. Did you guys say anything to me?" Twitchy asked.

"Depends, did you hear a what the hell, what's the matter, or who paused the game?" Remmie asked.

"No, someone told me it's almost time" Twitchy said.

"No, no one said that" said Chunky.

"Oh… it was probably a dream but… it didn't feel like one… I don't know what it felt like" said Twitchy.

"He he he, sounds like Twitchy's going insaaaaane" said Twitch.

"Shut up Twitch. C'mon Twitchy, let's get you to bed" said Remmie.

Remmie and chunky helped Twitchy return to her room just as the front door swung open.

"Shit, shit, shit, guys, I have to tell you something. You remember that cross thing that we found that dead guy on. Well I just found another one by the park near Nutty's house. I don't think it was anyone we know but they had the roses around them" said a dripping Tiny.

"Another one, that's horrible!" said Eme.

"It was friggin nasty as shit" said Tiny.

"You smell like booze, are you drunk?" Toothy asked.

"Who cares! I friggin saw it, the same thing as what we seen in the park!" Tiny shouted.

"Well we can't go out and check it tonight, the storm is brutal" said Chunky

"Fine, I'm just tell'n ya it's there" said Tiny.

After a little while the houses began settling in for the night. At Petunia's, in the storage room, sat Keni and her friends.

"So about Robby" Laurel mentioned.

"Yea… I take it we are all thinking the same thing" said Keni.

"Yea… but are you sure. We have no idea where he is and it's raining horribly" said Laurel.

"I know, bu what choice do we have, sitting here won't help us find him, and the rain will be a perfect cover for us, that way no one needs to follow us" said Keni.

"Sounds good. We're better off looking on our own" said Ayb.

"But what about the kids, we can't bring them with us" said Laurel.

"No… but they seem to like Bubble, they should be fine with him until we get back" said Keni.

"So what do we want to do, we can't exactly take the shelter with us, it'd be too cumbersome for a search" said Laurel.

"Then we leave it here, we take a few things and manage. We all know how to survive in the wild, we should be fine" said Keni.

"Yea… well as long as we have a plan we should be fine. Do you have something that can tell us how to get back here then?" Laurel asked.

"Yea, there's something in the shelter that tracks where it is, we should be able to get back here just fine" said Keni.

"So when do you plan on heading out?" Ayb asked.

"As soon as we get packed" Keni replied.

[There you go, Hope that was worth the wait. I'm trying to improve on how I've been making characters act, let me know if the feel of the story has changed any or gotten better… or worse. Also I'm a bit rusty with Twitch and can't seem to get onto Flipped Out Soldier's account, did they leave? Anyway, I think that's all I have to say for now, R&R. feels good to be back on this story again]


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